Transition
by fascalia
Summary: Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal. HIATUS
1. White Eyes

**Transition**

**Chapter 1**

White Eyes

Through the Eyes of a Stoic Jounin, a Prodigy and a Cloud Watching Boy

* * *

_The Stoic Jounin, Yuuhi Kurenai_

A night walk had been a perfect choice. The silence filled her and the Elite nin strolled around on the quiet streets of Konohagakure. She had just gotten home from a month long mission in Sunagakure, and her skin had tanned a bit, to her own dismay. Reconnecting the ties between Suna and Konoha had not been as hard as she had imagined at first. By allowing her to oversee and give points of development to their curriculum of Suna Chunin, she had gradually gained approval from their Council.

Kurenai felt the need to sigh, but she didn't. Her porcelain features were to, at all times, remain emotionless. The humid air made her clothes cling intimately to her skin, but it wasn't uncomfortable. She was home.

The black haired woman with red eyes caught a flicker of an outrageous pink colour at the stream in her peripheral vision. The Jounin shinobi absentmindedly wondered what the girl was doing, shuffling around at the shore at such a late hour. She recognised the girl, since the colour of her hair preceded her abilities and efforts. Her name was Haruno Sakura, the Genin child who had been on Team Seven. She remembered the girl's fight with the Yamanaka. The recollection made her frown slightly, almost unnoticeably. She showed nothing, but deep inside she pitied the girl with speckles of disdain.

When Kurenai was about to pass the girl over the bridge, she heard a sob. A sob that rang through her mind and she tilted her head to look at the girl again. The young teenager had fallen to her knees and sobbed quietly, her small shoulders shaking. Then she hit the ground with her fist in anger, so weakly, Kurenai thought, and she wobbled only to stand up again. The pinkette went through a few finger signs, ox, pig, dragon, bird, pig… Then she collapsed again, obviously failing with the chakra distribution and a light sheen of sweat was visible on her thin arms. Kurenai recognised the hand seals.

"It's difficult to practice genjutsus on your own, Haruno Sakura." She let her voice reach the girl calmly, and the girl jerked right up as her voice was so near. Kurenai had jumped from the bridge down to the stream and stood in front of the girl who had slumped down on the ground. Haruno Sakura looked up at the older woman who stared down at her. The teenage girl bit her lip and shook her head, stood up and bowed respectfully.

"Kurenai-sensei. Good evening." She said politely, her hands clenching the hem of her red Qipao dress.

"We'll see about that. Rain will come soon." Kurenai said curtly and looked at the approaching clouds in the dark sky.

"How do you know it will rain?" She asked, trying to hide the fact that she had been crying, which deemed a difficult task since her eyes were red and puffy.

"The humidity in the air and the darker clouds a distance away tells me there will be a down pour. Now, what were you trying to do?" She asked sharply. "Without supervision from a teacher, trying to train on your own with genjutsu is strictly forbidden for Genin. You know that."

"I… I'm sorry, but Kakashi-sensei left me. He tried to teach me the Shunshin, but I didn't have enough chakra to achieve it. I have good control over my chakra, enough to precisely augment the muscle mass in my legs, but I... Didn't have enough muscle mass to augment. I saw how disappointed he was in me. He said... That Team Seven had disbanded, so we needed to realise that there no longer was an 'us' and we had to- we had to accept that. There's no... Ties between us anymore, he said. He left me." Her lip quivered. Kurenai frowned. Such display of emotion, such childish words. If Sakura had been her pupil, there would have been no emotions visible on her face. She was like an open book and spewed her feelings at Kurenai, and the older woman almost frowned.

"So that's why you're practicing genjutsu techniques? They don't require as much chakra as most other techniques, but they're more complex. And could also end very badly." Kurenai assessed calmly.

"I just want Kakashi-sensei to come back, if I proved to him I could do something... I want... I want all of them to come back." Sakura said and stifled another sob.

"Weak." Kurenai scoffed. Sakura's eyes widened and instead of sadness anger took its place.

"I am not! I'm so tired of hearing that. I'm not weak!" She shouted childishly and her eyes became a darker shade of moss green, her fits clenching the hem of her dress even harder.

"But you are." Kurenai deadpanned. "You're crying over the fact that you're left childishly stomping on the same spot on your own, while your former teammates are making progress and walks further and further away from you."

"You're mean." Sakura whispered under her breath, tears gathering in her green eyes and a blush crept onto her cheeks.

"I am simply telling you the truth." Kurenai said blatantly and entwined her fingers in her spiky hair, drawing it out, smoothing it down. The spikes shot right up again after her fingers left the dark mess.

"I know all that." The pinkette said almost inaudibly and her eyes lowered to the ground in defeat. "But I can't do anything about it. I don't have enough chakra and my body is weak. I can't do anything... I'm unimportant. But I don't...", she bit her lip.

"You don't what?" Kurenai prodded irritably. Why couldn't the girl speak up?

"I don't want to feel like this." She said haughtily. "Kakashi-sensei said I should try to be a Medic instead. That since I don't have the raw power, it's a better suited profession for me. Maybe it is. I could help them if they got hurt, heal them… But they're gone. Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun." The pink haired girl quivered again and tears streamed down her rosy cheeks. "They're gone." She sniffed.

"Kakashi is spitting bullshit again." Kurenai chuckled quietly and made no move to comfort the crying girl. "Who says you can only be strong if you have a lot of chakra? Being strong is a subjective word. And being in control of that little chakra you do have could actually be more dangerous than a person without control over his large powers."

"Is that true?" Sakura looked up at the taller woman and she sniffed again.

"Let's see. You were going for the Pig in the Barn genjutsu, right? It's the easiest genjutsu they teach at the Academy." Kurenai scoffed. "And it's ridiculously unuseful. The most common genjutsu in the shinobi world wouldn't even make a Chuunin blink in surprise at the illusion of a squealing pig rushing towards him."

"It's the only one I know the hand seals for. Genjutsus are hard. I hate them." Sakura said quietly. Kurenai silently observed the girl, then made up her mind spontaneously.

"Since Kakashi is not here to oversee your genjutsu training, I'll do it this once. I'll show you one of my genjutsus and tell you how it works. Are you prepared for some real genjutsu, girl?"

"Y-yes, I think so." Sakura stuttered.

"Hm?"

"Yes, Kurenai-sensei!" Sakura stood straighter and looked at Kurenai as if she was heading into a bull fight. Kurenai felt almost mischievous as she stood in front of the girl, she admitted to herself that it might be wrong of her to show a Genin girl one of her more established genjutsus which functioned as a paralyzer, but she felt the need to. The girl needed to know not to take genjutsus lightly.

"But first, tell me what you know about genjutsus."

"Okay... Let's see. Genjutsu is created when a ninja controls the chakra flow of the opponent's cerebral nervous system, thereby affecting their five senses. Genjutsu affects activity throughout the prosencephalon structure of the brain, humans, dogs and other species of mammal are therefore all affected by genjutsu. It's illusions that could stall an enemy and even cause them imaginary pain. Genjutsu can also be used for other supplementary purposes such as interrogating an individual by breaking their will." Sakura said and Kurenai nodded, silently praising the girl's memorization ability. The Jounin recognised the words to be the exact same explanation that was written in the Genjutsu Basics Scroll they studied at the Academy.

"And how does one dispel a genjutsu?"

"Um, the ninja needs to stop the flow of chakra in their body, and then apply an even stronger power to disrupt the flow of the caster's chakra."

"Is that the only way?"

"No. Another way is through intense pain not caused by the genjutsu and utilising the resulting pain to bring their senses back in order, but of the first two options, the latter seems more effective in most situations, or at least is the easiest. I think."

"Textbook correct, Haruno. Now, are there any Clans in Konoha who can dispel genjutsu in another manner?"

"Yes. The Uchiha Clan, Sharingan wielders, are the only ones who has another accessible option. Members of the Uchiha Clan can break or see through genjutsu using their Sharingan." Sakura said something flashed in the greens of her eyes, similar to pain. Kurenai didn't prod further.

"Yes. However, heightened senses can eventually be a weakness inside an illusion. No matter how good your sense of smell is, no matter how much your eyes can capture, it's ultimately the brain which interprets information. The mind is a vast and intricate network of impulses. There's a lot of room for error. Our brain perceives the phenomena of an illusion to be real and that's why it's so dangerous. Illusions can be used to turn enemies against each other, to paralyze an opponent which is essential in giving the time to deal the final blow, it can be used to simply stall an opponent stronger than you so you have some time to get away. Illusions are one of the most handy ninjutsus, but it's just as dangerous to use. Since it craves intelligence, correct hand signs and explicit chakra control, many fail in casting genjutsus. The chakra coils and can blow up from the inside if used incorrectly. I will now show you one of my own developed genjutsus, based on floral life." Kurenai said as she slowly went through the hand signs. Sakura's eyes were full of wonder and she watched carefully. The tears had dried on her cheek.

Kurenai saw the ghost image of the illusion she cast upon Sakura, as thick and dark green roots shot off from the ground and swirled around the girl's feet, sprinkling gravel around. Kurenai also saw the red flower petals cover her own body, hiding her from view, and Sakura saw Kurenai disappearing inside a storm of flowers. The flowers withered, became rotten and fell in a heap to the ground. Sakura now no longer saw Kurenai. The roots soon had the girl trapped, tightly clenching around her body and Sakura yelped loudly.

"Kurenai-sensei!" Sakura shouted in paralysed fear, her fingers shaking. "I can't move!" She struggled against the restraining roots, clawing against the skin, tightening around her.

"Let me loose, please!" She cried. Kurenai was about to release the genjutsu on the girl as she thought the lesson had been enough, but then her ears picked up on calmer words from the girl trapped in her illusion.

"This... These aren't real. Are they, Kurenai-sensei?" Sakura roughly said and her green eyes showed plain determination to prove herself. "Kai", she whispered and the illusion was dispelled. The roots disappeared back into the ground. Kurenai caught her breath and saw Sakura fall into a pile of petal hued hair.

"Well done, Haruno." Kurenai congratulated the girl. She looked up and breathed heavily, her cheeks still rosy, a deeper shade and it would be the same hue as her hair.

"You gave me a warning, so I figured it couldn't be real. One must realise that he or she is under the effects of genjutsu before attempting to break out of it. This can be done by observing the changes in one's own chakra, is what I know from the Academy." Sakura said as she gasped for air. The Jounin nodded approvingly, but the girl stilled and only watched the black haired woman.

"Your expression, Kurenai-sensei. I can't read it." She said lowly, her voice muffled by her hand covering it hesitantly.

"Oh, well, for exercise on a blank expression try charcoal-walking with a smile on your face. I am the master of my emotions and therefore the master of my expression. You should try hiding your emotions, or you won't survive long as a kunoichi."

"But, Kurenai-sensei, I am a shinobi."

"So you decided?" She asked amusedly.

"What?"

"To not give up. And become a true nin of Konoha?"

"Yes! I did, sensei I-I.. I did." Sakura displayed a heart wrenching smile and Kurenai found herself liking the girl. A sudden jump, and then the pinkette hugged Kurenai happily, nuzzling her little pink bob into the Jounin's chest.

Kurenai felt something flash inside the girl's mind as she hugged her. The sudden intimacy made Kurenai subconsciously slip inside the girl's mindscape, her red eyes swindling.

She fell.

Falling through slivers of movement, of memories, deep into the girl's core, she tumbled around helplessly, breaking down walls. Kurenai couldn't breath. She had never fallen so far before while visiting someone's mind, and she had never fallen into someone else's mind in years. Then she abruptly stopped falling and was left to hover inside a black void. There was no light.

A shadow appeared before her, disfigured at first, then its features formed an exact replica of Sakura, but it was monochromatic. No colours, no pink hair. No sweet green eyes, yet it wasn't a ghastly spectre. Only a face full of attitude and self confidence, observing Kurenai amusedly.

Kurenai trembled as she was reminded of Yakumo, the girl she had once trained in genjutsu but who had proven to have an id, a split personality in her psyche, that destroyed her own Clan in flames. She had turned into a demon, Kurenai had seen it happen. Was Sakura...

"Who are you?" Kurenai cautiously asked the monochromatic appearance who stilled, then raised a hand in a greeting. Friendly.

"I'm Kaira, but Sakura only calls me Inner. I am Sakura, but I am not. I'm the yin to Sakura's yang, yadayada. Thanks for showing us the genjutsu, by the way. Kakashi was a total asscrack to leave us behind. Shannaro!" The spectre grumbled and fisted the air.

"What are your intentions?" Kurenai demanded to know. The appearance was nothing like the timid Sakura Kurenai had gotten to know.

"To kick some ass? I don't know. What are your intentions? What are you doing inside our mind?" The monochromatic Sakura squinted her black eyes at Kurenai, eyeing her suspiciously.

"I see. I... Slipped inside. Sorry for disturbing you, I'll leave right away."

"No, it's cool. Gets lonely in here sometimes, especially when Sakura's ignoring me, which is like all the time, so I'm glad you visited. Hope you come back someday. Yeah. Shannaro!" Kaira, was that her name?, waved and grinned at the kunoichi inside the alien black void.

"Yes… Farewell." Kurenai said hesitantly, then climbed out of the girl's mind, leaving quickly the black void behind her. Breathless, she came to, widening her red eyes as the real dark world was once again visible in front of her. Sakura was still hugging her.

"Enough." Kurenai said through gritted teeth, not so gentle as she had tried to sound, and lightly pushed away the girl. Confusion and hurt was momentarily visible in the depths of Sakura's green eyes, but she recuperated quickly.

"I need to go home, it's late and dad is probably worried sick. Thanks, Kurenai-sensei. I won't forget what you showed me. Good night!" She said happily and bounced off into the night, not hearing Kurenai's soft words of farewell. The girl had been unaware of Kurenai's visit, it seemed.

* * *

The Powerful Alcoholic, Senju Tsunade

"Godaime."

"Why, good morning to you." Tsunade said, not sounding as gleeful as she had tried to. This hangover was killing her, the new Hokage work was killing her, and now a red eyed beauty called Yuuhi Kurenai had requested an early morning audience with her regarding a little pink haired girl named Haruno Sakura. Said woman bowed at her knees in front of Tsunade's desk, respectfully not meeting her eyes.

"I'm a bit busy, so what is this business you called me for?" Tsunade clipped, and she found Kurenai's red eyes quite unsettling as she looked up, so the blonde busied herself with some papers at the desk.

"We cannot teach the Haruno any genjutsu, at all." The black haired woman said plainly, her jaw visibly clenching.

"Why is that, Kurenai-san?" Tsunade raised one finely plucked eyebrow at the kunoichi's demand.

"She has the power to do excellent genjutsus and she can dispel them easily, but... The girl has a split mind. I don't know if you have heard of Kurama Yakumo... she was a student of mine."

"Ah, the Kurama Clan that was obliterated by an attacker a year or so back?"

"Yes. The attacker was a demon - it was Kurama Yakumo herself. She was a fragile girl with health issues and had no abilities that a shinobi had except her chakra, but she had an unique kekkei genkai. And her prowess in genjutsu was outstanding. But she had an id, a part of her psyche, that was a demon like part of her. And she killed her own family in a genjutsu as the demon part of her took over her body. I think Sakura has accumulated a split personality, I don't know if she's aware of it yet. Her id is an instinctual and dark part of her mind, mirroring the destructive impulses she feels."

"Is Haruno Sakura an offspring of the Kurama lineage?"

"No, but-"

"Was there any malicious intent from her split personality?"

"No, none that I could sense in the shadow of her soul."

"Then, we will not kill her. She does not have the kekkei genkai of the Kurama Clan, so her powers are not that great. But in addition, I will allow none to teach her genjutsu."

"That's... Good. Actually, I said she should try to be a Medic."

"Really?"

"Yes. She has the chakra control for it."

"Thank you for informing me of this. I think you might have been scarred by that incident with Kurama Yakumo, so don't overreact now. I have seen the pink haired girl, and she is too weak to even kill a fly. I will keep her under surveillance, however. Now, dismissed."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade stared at the closed door for a while, then shuffled to the bookshelf beside her desk. Her fingers trailed the spines of the medical books she had brought with her, searching for the loose one which had the purpose of hiding her addiction from Shizune's sharp eyes.

"Saké, saké, where are you my love?" She mumbled, foolhardy risking Shizune shaving her jugular if the apprentice found her with the forbidden bottle.

* * *

_The Flower Girl, Yamanaka Ino_

Ino had come to have a daily routine with her team: train, take up small missions, and help out at her mother's flower shop, all while scolding Choji and Shika, as usual. When she heard Sakura was accepted as an apprentice of the Hokage, jealousy clouded the blond's mind for a few months, leading her to completely ignore the Haruno girl. She would never be weaker than her former rival, so she occupied herself with training and didn't even glance at the pink haired girl when they met on the street. She distantly noticed that the pinkette didn't take good care of her untrimmed hair any longer, and the clothes she wore didn't fit her at all. She had abandoned her usual red Qipao and now donned a red top together with a beige skirt. But the nagging conscious of the Yamanaka made her look more closely at the Haruno when she spotted her the next time in the grocery shop.

Ino saw it where none else saw. The pinkette picked up an orange from the fruits section in the grocery shop and that was it. Forehead was lonely; Ino could recognise loneliness on Sakura's face two miles away. She occupied herself with the training at Tsunade's office, helping to file stacks of papers, then helping out at the hospital as an apprenticed nurse and then training by herself. Sakura strained her limits so as not to feel the emptiness consuming her. With a wrinkle of her nose, Ino saw that the usually manicured and green-painted nails of the Haruno girl were now nonexistent and had been cut far too low. Ino bit down her sizzling jealousy and tried to talk with the lonely girl at times, but the Yamanaka herself didn't have much time on her hands to re-befriend the pink haired girl, because she had training and missions of her own.

One cloudy day, the forehead was waiting for her in front of the Yamanaka flower shop.

"What's up, forehead?" Ino greeted in her usual manner, casting her blond hair to one side. She was trying to grow it out again.

"Good evening Ino. I have a... bold request, but I don't know how to ask this of you." The pink haired girl shyly looked down at the ground. Ino sniffed with a frown; this wasn't like the boisterous, loud girl she knew. The loneliness had shaven off parts of her personality, it seemed.

"Just spit it out, I need to help mom with the shop soon. There's a large order of flower arrangements to the Ouboro wedding." Ino sneered, but she waited patiently for her former rival to gather up the courage. She hid a smile. It was the first time in a long while that the pinkette had approached her and not the other way around.

"Could I... possibly join your team for your next mission?" Sakura blurted and blushed. Ino raised one eye brow and couldn't help herself not to laugh at the pink haired girl's expression. Ino remembered that the Haruno didn't have any teammates anymore, and felt almost guilty for not having considered this fact before. She decided then.

"I don't have a problem with it. I'll just ask Asuma-sensei the next time I see him and then we can file a request to the Hokage." Ino complied and smiled crookedly. She had thought that the girl was looking for date advice or fashion advice, but she hadn't expected this. She saw how her former rival's face broke into a heart-wrenching grin and how her eyes glittered. It was then that Ino realised just how lonely she had been. And not for the first time, Ino cursed that idiot Naruto and that backstabbing Sasuke for leaving the girl like this.

The Sakura-joins-Team-Asuma-temporarily request was accepted with a bit of help from Tsunade, since she was Sakura's teacher after all, and Sakura joined their team for a few training sessions to better understand Team Asuma's dynamics. Shika wasn't that interested, as always, and Choji was happy when she gave him a bit of her food. The cohesiveness of the team was good and Sakura adapted quickly, so Asuma-sensei requested a mission from the Hokage. Their first mission together was scheduled: a C-rank mission. Sakura's position in the team was as a medic and she seemed as glad as ever.

Their first mission together had gone exceptionally well. It had been an escort mission, and the client had happily paid a bit more than necessary. Ino had noticed the look in the client's eyes as he had watched the forehead. Sakura didn't seem to notice.

Several other missions later, they succeeded in upgrading from C-rank to their first B-rank mission. Sakura's medic abilities had improved quickly, and sometimes, the forehead taught Ino medical jutsu. The bookworm proved to be of some use after all. Ino didn't like to admit it, but she was comfortable with the big forehead in their team. The Haruno hadn't imposed on hers, Choji's and Shika's close friendship, and Sakura had been really nice to her for a change. Ino saw sometimes how she suppressed her Inner from mouthing her thoughts loudly. Ino was proud of her (she only called her this when no one could hear her) friend.

On the day of their first B-rank mission, Ino was excited. Their mission was to deliver a scroll to a hidden village bordering to Konohagakure's territory, so it would take at least a week. Jumping from tree to tree, they made it to their destination without trouble, but on the way back they had absentmindedly slipped into a dangerous area of the forest. Shika had been the first to notice when he looked at the map, and yelled that they had to retrace their steps immediately.

"This is missing-nin territory. Shit. They usually set dangerous traps and there might be tripwires everywhere; since this could be a hideout - watch your step! We need to get out of here, now."

They abruptly turned around, only to a hear a shriek come from their sturdy friend. Choji had fallen to the ground in a broken heap and a large shuriken was stuck to his chest, blood spurting out of the large wound. He had activated a tripwire when jumping past a branch and several large shurikens had been released. He had evaded all of them except for one. Ino's heart bled and she felt tears gathering in her eyes as she stood on a branch above her dying, spluttering friend. The forehead was just as shocked beside her and seemed to be paralysed for a moment, but then Shika yelled at her for help and she came to. Sakura dropped down to join Shikamaru, who spread out a medic field kit on the forest floor for her use.

Ino noticed a flare of chakra behind her and she saw three Konoha Jounin come into her vision, quickly tree-hopping. The Yamanaka screamed for them to come to their aid. The Konoha ninja who had been on an A-class mission turned around to find a blond, fifteen-year-old kunoichi standing on a tree branch, crying unashamedly over a fallen and bloody teammate on the ground below.

Sakura tried to save Choji all while this was going on. With great effort, she eased the shuriken out of his chest cavity, and a gurgling sound was produced from Choji's throat. Sakura was fast to bandage his chest, but blood was leaking through her hands as she tried to stop the blood flow. She was stressed, shocked and huffing when Choji wouldn't stop screaming in pain. Ino thought she could see a tear glisten on Sakura's cheek, but she couldn't be sure as she joined Sakura and Choji on the ground. It could've been sweat. The team of three Konoha Jounin arrived, and their field medic pushed Sakura violently to the side, toppling the inexperienced girl over. The field medic started healing with his hands over Choji's chest and instantly suppressed the blood flow. Choji's screams halted abruptly; he was unconscious now. Ino glimpsed a light fading in her former rival's green eyes.

They made their way home to Konoha with the three Jounin in silence. When they returned, Choji was admitted to the hospital. Ino didn't see her pink-haired friend for a long time after that, and she heard from Asuma-sensei that the Haruno had requested to be dismissed from the team.

* * *

_The Prodigy, Hyuuga Neji_

Within the murmurs of the Hyuuga Clan's main house, Neji overheard gossip about a mission that had gone awry the other week, where the heir of the Akimichi clan had almost died. According to the rumours of the Hyuuga maids, it had been a terrible injury, a deep laceration that damaged organs and caused heavy internal bleeding, but he had survived. Neji didn't think much of it and continued to the training grounds inside the Hyuuga compound. He was to meet Hiashi Hyuuga and receive special training.

One day, he was called to the Hokage's office for his first B-class mission. He was somewhat excited and believed this would prove to be good experience, as well as give him a superior lead to the other Main house members of his clan. He was assigned to a temporary team that consisted of Nara Shikamaru and Haruno Sakura, since Lee was away on a short training mission with Gai-sensei, and Tenten was in Sunagakure. As a result of Choji still being in the hospital, Shikamaru's team was still out of commission. However, as Shikamaru was completely well, he was placed on mission rosters. Neji knew the Nara was excellent in analytical planning, strategy and leading a group, so he was satisfied with having Shikamaru on his team. The only thing bothering him about the Nara was his lax attitude towards missions and the strange habit of watching clouds in the sky.

When he stood next to the pink haired girl to receive further information about the mission, he noted that something had gone amiss in the kunoichi's eyes, but he didn't think much of it. This mission was his first B-class mission and the Nara's second. He didn't know about the Haruno, only that she was a medic under the tutelage of Tsunade, and distantly remembered that she had been on the same team as Akimichi Choji, who was still at the hospital. It had been a B-class mission, he recalled, so at least she had some experience, even if it was quite traumatic. The Hyuuga allowed himself to let out a small, small huff of exasperation; he hoped she would not hold the team back. From what he knew of the medic, she was weak and prone to useless emotional outbursts. And the fight she had had at the Chuunin exams with the Yamanaka girl had been laughable. He'd talk to the Nara about having her trail the team, so as not to risk her getting injured (or them whilst protecting her, if under attack).

The next day, the day of the mission, was a sunny day with no clouds in the sky; a warm breeze from the south seeped into the atmosphere. In the morning they started their travels to a nearby civilian village where their assigned client waited. He was a wealthy merchant that they were to guard on a trip to a village near Cha no Kuni, the Land of Tea, where he had some business, and then escort him all the way back. During the walk to their client's village, the Nara wouldn't stop complaining and muttering under his breath about how troublesome everything was and the Haruno girl silently walked behind them; as if she unconsciously found her place in the back. A twig broke nearby; Neji saw that it had been a frightened rabbit hopping off into the forest after noticing their approach, but it had snapped the medic's attention. Neji, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, saw a change in the girl as she stopped.

With big, green eyes, she regarded in shock the backs of his and the Nara's as they walked in front of her. They were leaving her behind as she stood there, and Neji turned around to give her a questioning look; still walking ahead. A light in her eyes, the one he noticed had been missing before, was lit. But this time the light was burning, almost feverishly. In a few swift steps she was walking besides him. The Nara hadn't noticed her change, he only grumpily strolled on, muttering curses under his breath. But Neji had seen her change. If that was not steely determination to not be left behind in her burning eyes, he didn't know what was.

When they arrived at the village they were met at the grand iron gates by the personal guards of the merchant, who introduced himself as Tajima. He was a tall man who had aged well and moved with elegance while walking towards them. His features were handsome and his greying black hair didn't seem out of place. He clothed himself in a traditional black yukata, hemmed with white silk, and had a katana in a black scabbard blatantly strapped at his hip. He greeted them and told them a few details about the mission, which they were already aware of.

Sakura was the first to go up and greet him with a bow of her head, following up by presenting her team and then asked for further information regarding his enemies in the trade and possible threats on the way to Tea. Neji blinked. Was she actually making herself useful? Or was it just for show? Neji's eyes wandered over to Tajima and he stated to himself that one had to be blind to miss Tajima's widening grey eyes as he took in the kunoichi's outrageous pink hair colour and her shining green eyes.

Neji found that he did not particularly like the look in Tajima's eyes, nor the body language he now showed the kunoichi as he made her laugh lightly. Exchanging a look with the Nara, as he had also noticed, a silent agreement between the two of them was made; they would not leave Haruno alone with Tajima. They feared their client would break protocol regarding the fact that customers of Konoha's services were never to touch an assigned ninja inappropriately. It would most certainly not end well for the client.

When they were on their way to their destination, Neji accompanied the Haruno girl and walked behind Tajima for a better rear view of the group so that in the case of attack, he would be able to detect enemies from any direction. Shikamaru was walking in the front of the group, yawning. Tajima had guards of his own that surrounded them in groups, in their steps and movement the Hyuuga prodigy saw that they were experienced in battle and had had military training.

Neji wondered why a man like Tajima needed shinobi when he seemed to have great personal military assets at hand. There were at least ten of his guards, and considering how expensive good mercenary guards were, Tajima did not need so many if he wasn't of great importance. And from what Neji knew of Tajima, all he was famous for was his flourishing empire of trade in Hi no Kuni and Cha no Kuni. He also could not see Tajima as someone flashy, only showing the number of guards to impress; no, he was not that shallow. There were always background checks done on clients that comissioned E, C, B, A, and S-rank missions in Konoha and they had not found anything out of the ordinary with the merchant nor the mission.

Neji was so deep in his train of thought that he didn't notice the missing nin until it was too late. He saw and counted in a flash that twenty one kunai had been thrown and hit six out of the ten guards surrounding Tajima. The six guards fell and crumpled to the ground, with blood the colour of red wine gushing out of vital arteries. Neji knew the next attack would come soon, without mercy. He was not disappointed. In a whirl, he made use of the Gentle Fist style that he knew to the core of his bones. With chakra coating his hands, he successfully averted all of the kunai directed at him, managing to intercept a couple of blades in the process and add them to his own weapon supply. Neji, with the tiniest smirk, was placing the the high-grade steel weapons he caught into one of his storage pouches when, suddenly, he was reminded of his client.

Glancing at the spot Tajima had been standing, he was both surprised and unsurprised to see that the merchant was not there. A flash of pink in his peripheral vision told him the kunoichi had survived; if she had not, she would not have been worthy of the title kunoichi. But what he had not expected was that she was holding an unharmed Tajima with one hand as she searched her pockets for a weapon with the other, appearing to not have found any. The Hyuuga had thought that the Nara had saved their client, but he was a yard away, already battling a shinobi clothed in a black harness. From the looks of it, Shikamaru had already lured him into his shadow.

"There are more coming!" Sakura yelled at the Hyuuga, simultaneously evading several kunai thrown at her, as well as carrying a flustered Tajima behind her. The mercenary guards were not as lucky, however. The strength in her arms did not match her physical build; her arms were slender and did not contain the muscle necessary for such a feat. Slightly puzzled, and too curious to wait, Neji used his byakugan to view the chakra flow in the arm Sakura used to hold Tajima. He was somewhat taken aback when he concluded that the Haruno's chakra control was absolutely flawless, but quickly began to scan for the other attackers she'd warned about. The Hyuuga found them within one second and flash stepped into their zone. He was swift, he knew, and he started with the one in the closest tree. Compared to the missing nin from Mizu no Kuni, Neji's speed was far superior, and all too soon, he was within the mercenary's guard, close enough to feel body heat. His bloodline limit was already activated. Chakra fueling Neji's eyes, the tenketsu at his would-be attacker's heart revealed themselves to him. And as if Neji's hand was guided by fate itself, the blow to stop the missing nin's heart seemed too gentle, was too precise. Too fast. One more heart stopped beating in the forest clearing. No one would have been able to guess it was his first kill.

But Neji had no more time to think or ponder about it as he was attacked from behind, a sword swinging down with enough force to cleave his head in two. He evaded the deadly weapon with a slight step to the right and then pummelled the other missing nin with not-so-gentle fists. He didn't aim at the man's heart this time. A third, fourth, and fifth shinobi attacked him, coming in through thick foliage, and Neji was soon consumed in his one-on-three battle. A scream broke through his focus, coming out of many bushes and leaves. He identified the source as someone on the main road and spared a second to look down from the tree branch he stood on. Sakura stood casually in front of Tajima, several shinobi bodies sprawled on the ground in front of her that soiled the dirt path with currents of blood. The Haruno girl held a bloodied katana in her hands. Neji noticed swiftly that their client's exquisite katana was absent from its scabbard at his hip. It was apparent that the scream had not been the girl's. The Hyuuga quickly finished his last attacker with another round of the Gentle Fist, sweat seeping into his eyes. He breathed heavily and, atop a tree branch, rested for a few seconds. After a deep breath, he sprinted to the ground to stand beside Sakura.

When he jumped down to stand beside her, he had to duck hastily to avoid the katana in her hands severing his head. In shock, he looked at the medic, backing away. Her eyes were blank and expressionless, and there were blood splatters on her face, trickling down under her chin and tracing paths on her neck and collarbones. Tajima trembled in a slumped heap on the ground behind her, covering his mouth with a quivering hand. Looking closely at the Haruno, Neji saw her eyes flash... white?

"Wait. Haruno. It's me!" he called when Sakura was about to raise the katana against him a second time, and her eyes changed in colour, into those piercingly green eyes. She had heard him. The white colour seemed to be absorbed into her black pupil, leaving them a verdant celadon.

"Oh," was all she whispered to him. No apology as he had expected, no tears of realisation. Her now-green eyes went back to the katana in her hand. It gleamed, slick with blood.

Tajima whimpered.

The Hyuuga quickly assessed the situation; Haruno had taken the lives of five missing nin, as he saw on the ground. The bodies lay toppled over one another, like dominoes. Two were missing their heads and showed only their unbecoming severed necks, and one missing nin lay on his back; his internal organs spilled out from the hideous gash in his abdomen. The last two had slashes at their throats, blood still pouring out of thin, red necklaces that decorated dead flesh. That alone surprised him, her macabre way of changing the cause of death, instead of the standard kill of shinobi. It disgusted him to a certain point as well, but he dismissed it, since he had no time to think of it.

Shikamaru had succeeded in knocking out three Mizu no Kuni ninja without actually harming them. He was sweating, flustered, and was not used to physical strain, it seemed. It also took a lot to not accidentally kill someone when all of one's training told one to do so. Neji himself had taken out four and killed one. The Hyuuga, pumping more chakra into his eyes, widened the range of his Byakugan and detected no chakra signatures in the near vicinity. They were safe for now. But this was an attack unlike any other he had experienced in his mission should have been classified as an A, if not S-ranked, mission; the merchant would pay for this. A group of twelve missing-nin from Mizu no Kuni attacking their client had to be of importance, and to think it would be omitted...

_Damn those background checks._

"Shikamaru. Damage report." The Hyuuga asked, catching the attention of the huffing Nara who turned around.

"A growing headache perhaps, but what -" Shikamaru slightly flinched as he assessed the situation, the blood and the lifeless bodies on the ground. He quickly looked at Neji and Sakura and deduced with his analytical mind that Neji was not the one who had done it. In a few seconds, the Nara stood in front of their medic, and stared at her with a frown.

"Haruno, are you injured?" he asked, as he had seen the blood splatter on her face, her clothes and the unknown katana in her grip.

"No. This is not... my blood." She answered with a hint of emptiness in her voice, her eyes traveling back to the katana in her hand, turning paler as she did, as if something was leeching the color out of them. It was then that Neji noticed it, with his byakugan activated, he perceived the problem as it was: the katana. How had he not detected it before? There was some kind of chakra alive in it - something that shouldn't be possible. Something that shouldn't be there. He had never seen chakra live on its own in an inanimate object before. It was a black, billowing chakra that looked like thick smoke from a large fire.

"Haruno, let the katana go," Neji ordered her blankly as he took in the smoke-like chakra and saw how it ominously reached for Sakura's body, swirling. Only he could see it; it felt like the manifestation of evil itself, and he wished in that moment that he had never been born a Hyuuga. He didn't want to see it.

"I-I can't..." Her voice sounded like the rustle of leaves blowing in wind, and it scared Neji. Never before had he felt that kind of fear gather in the pit of his stomach, like ice seeping into his veins. Sudden authority, strengthened by his fear, made his voice sound years older and more experienced than he actually was.

"Let it go."

With a clank, the sword fell to the dirty ground. As it fell, so did Sakura. Exhaustion seemed to overwhelm her and glistening tears gathered in her eyes as she sobbed. Neji felt the tension in his shoulders disappear, deactivating his byakugan, and he reached for her. She was human again, a girl. A gentle hand squeezed her shoulder the same time as his did, and he saw Shikamaru doing the same as him; both of the young men were not used to comforting others, especially kunoichi having just had their first kill. A kill of five shinobi, with her leaving the battle unscathed. The girl shuddered, snivelled, and then looked up at the two of them with teary eyes. At that time when she saw their pitying expressions, Neji noted that the burning in her eyes came back with full force. The fire even stronger this time. She sniffed one last time and stopped crying, wiping the last tears away with the sleeve of her shirt. She stood up and they let go of their comforting hands on her shoulders.

"The hell...", Shikamaru mumbled, looking over the dead corpses.

Sounds of scuffling steps on the road made Neji turn around in one swift movement, and he saw Tajima scrambling to his feet. Without thinking, Neji activated his eyes again, which he knew made him look even more dangerous, and was fast to take hold of the merchant's black yukata and yank him back. Tajima fell to the ground with a helpless yelp. Neji closed his eyes, then spoke without hesitation.

"Tell us everything you did not, or I will rip out your lying tongue."

Shikamaru was fast to imprison Tajima with his shadow binding and Sakura stood still to watch, with pale green eyes somewhat alert. The Hyuuga prodigy saw how she stole a quick look at the abandoned sword, but she didn't pick it up. That relieved him to some extent.

"No. I won't. I can't," Tajima squealed, all of his pride and prettiness gone. Neji's eye twitched with disgust. Shikamaru growled.

"Sure as hell you will. This was not what we signed up for and it's troublesome as shit. Having missing nin attacking us was not in the contract details," Shikamaru rebuked, and his black intelligent eyes darted to the merchant's grey ones.

"It's classified," the man stuttered and looked defiantly away into the forest.

Neji wondered how he would best threaten the merchant without killing him in the process when in an instant, the abandoned sword was kicked towards Tajima's feet. It slid to a stop right in front of the merchant who blanched at the sight. Neji looked wide-eyed at his female team member and saw Sakura staring at the man. Pale, green eyes.

"Pick it up." Her voice was cold and it cut through the silence like a sword through flesh.

"N-no!" The man's eyes lit up with an emotion Neji just had lived through and never wanted to experience again. Fear.

"Pick it up." She repeated as she walked up to him and looked down on him, watching how he shivered and violently shook his head when the sword was blaring in front of him. Bare. It was then that Neji saw the scabbard at Tajima's hip. With narrowing eyes, the Hyuuga peeked inside it with his byakugan and saw that there were seals over seals over seals inside. Old yet high level chakra-restraining seals.

"It's the sword." Sakura looked back at her two temporary teammates over her shoulder and smiled with her chapped bloody lips closed. It was a smile that left a bad taste in Neji's mouth, and he wanted to see anything but that slanted smirk, so he looked at the blood-smeared katana on the ground instead. Shikamaru waved with his hand, having not seen her feral grin.

"What about it? Is it valuable? It looks ancient and unusable. Dusty." The Nara cocked his head sideways and raised one eyebrow. Tajima shivered again, trying to fight the shadow binding power Shikamaru had over him, to get further away from the bloody sword. He didn't, couldn't, budge.

"It's cursed." Neji blurted, taking in the full extent of the dark chakra covering the sword. Sakura briefly looked at him with pale green eyes, then stared at the sword again. She knew, Neji realised. She knew already.

"Cursed, really? So you were going to sell it to the highest bidder with a cursed-sword fetish huh? What a scam." Shikamaru drawled and bent down to pick up the hilt of the sword to study it. Before Neji even had the time to blink, Sakura had her grip on Shikamaru's hand, preventing him from taking the katana.

"Believe me, you do not want to do that." That coldness in her voice was back with a hint of knowing, yet it caressed the wind and was gentle in its frigidness.

"Ara, Sakura-san. Okay, okay." Shikamaru seemed surprised, but backed away. "Wait. You don't actually believe it's cursed, do you?" he snorted. The Haruno girl only observed him, not saying anything. The silence was broken by the clearing of a throat, which turned out to belong to Tajima. His eyes nervously flicked from the sword to the kunoichi and back. He had the full attention of three pairs of eyes, and the bobbing of his throat as he gulped was fully visible to everyone present.

"Now that you know, I might as well tell you. I thought the legend of the katana was just a bluff at first, but then she -" Tajima stopped and peered warily at Haruno. Then he gulped and continued, eyes on the blood-soiled ground. "I was going to sell it off in Cha no Kuni (Tea Country) to a powerful Daimyo from Iwagakure for a lesser fortune, but it seems word got around. I suspect that one military asset betrayed me and informed others of our route to Cha no Kuni. I know that Kirigakure has always liked powerful swords, and then these missing nin from Mizu no Kuni... I never expected this, though. It's an abomination..." he trailed off, leaving the three Konohagakure shinobi staring at him intensely. How could the administration in Konoha have missed this vital piece of information?

Suddenly, Neji's survival instincts screamed for him to turn around. As he did, something hit him in the back of his head. Hard. A brooding darkness seeped into his mind, and the world around him became blurry, tilting on it's axis and fading as he heard a scream. The Hyuuga prodigy lost consciousness before he even hit the ground.

* * *

_The Cloud Watching Boy, Nara Shikamaru_

Dread filled Shikamaru's lungs as he watched Neji sprawl onto the ground, knocked unconscious from a quick blow administered to him with the back of a bandaged and ridiculously huge sword. He hadn't even noticed the chakra presence, which was now somehow overwhelming. Towering before himself, Sakura, and Tajima, a grey-skinned man stood lackadaisically, a black coat covering him from head to toe. He was large and bulky, with strange tattoos on his face. He was also the most fearsome creature Shikamaru had ever happened upon. Tajima was screaming once again, and when he abruptly stopped his screaming, no one bothered to check on him. Shikamaru guessed he had passed out.

The newcomer, an infamous missing nin, glanced around, as if he was searching for Monster of Kirigakure - Hoshigaki Kisame - was there to claim the cursed sword, Shikamaru concluded almost instantaneously. This was the monster he had only heard of in children's horror stories. However, the infamous monster who swung the legendary sword Samehada like it was a twig was very real, and his sharp teeth glinted in the late afternoon sunlight, right in front of the Nara. The swell of his chest muscles was clearly visible underneath the cloak, rippling like a predator's, ready to attack. Shikamaru felt as if someone had caught him in his own binding shadow, but he was just simply paralysed with fear. He couldn't move an inch. Dread pooling in his gut, his heart pounded loudly in his ears.

In his mind, he knew exactly what he should do, what he was supposed to do in this situation. Kick the sword to the monster and apologise for existing, hopefully keep the monster busy with it, take the unconscious Hyuuga and the Haruno and run for his life to the nearest village - and when there, report to the Godaime about the dangerous presence of the missing nin, Hoshigaki Kisame, near the border of Hi no Kuni. He didn't care about that troublesome guy Tajima anymore than he had before, but now he had even more reason to not care. He was the one who had gotten them into this troublesome shitstorm of a mess in the first place. Somewhere during the process of that bundle of panic welling up in his chest and all of that thinking, Sakura disappeared.

The very tall and huge shark-like man in front of him seemed to not have taken an interest in the Nara boy; instead, the monster moved his small, white, and round eyes to a point behind Shikamaru and stayed there. Shikamaru was still paralysed by fear, so when the monster moved to walk past him, past Neji's unconscious body, he couldn't roll out of the way. Irritably, the monster swung the sword towards Shikamaru, as if swatting away an irritating fly, and he just knew; this is the moment I die. But when he closed his eyes to take the hit with a tear in his eye, he didn't feel anything. There was a whoosh of air, but nothing more nor less. Something wet splattered on his left cheek.

When he opened his eyes he saw that Sakura stood before him like a shield, facing the monster towering over her petite form. Red was suddenly overpowering his vision, blood dripping down onto the forest floor from his protector's ravaged shoulder, creating a small pool at her feet. Sakura was holding the cursed katana defensively, somehow pushing back the bandaged blade of Samehada. Logically, that was impossible; even with the chakra aiding in the Haruno's strength, the Monster of Kirigakure was an S-ranked missing nin, in possession of immense chakra reserves as well as one of the Seven Swords. It was apparent that she was still breathing because of the cursed katana.

Shikamaru almost scoffed at himself for being able to think so intensely at such a crucial moment of fear, yet still being unable to move. A breeze lightly ruffled Sakura's mussed pink hair, flecked with blood at the ragged strands that ended near her neck. Shikamaru could plainly see tendons sticking out of her right shoulder in a gory mess of muscles and blood, where Samehada had forced the cursed katana into bony flesh. Acutely, Shikamaru's subconscious noted that the edge that had cut into her shoulder was the dull edge, and if the battle didn't end soon, Sakura was going to bleed out.

"I am here solely to claim that sword you're holding, pipsqueak girl. But I've changed my mind. You seem like you might turn out to be a fun challenge in the future, so I'll leave her to you. I will come to claim her later, though, so take good care of her." The tall man grinned a sickening grin, with those razor-sharp teeth sticking out, and then he turned around so his black coat fluttered in the wind. As he did, the parting words of the monster were carried to Shikamaru's ears by a frosty breeze.

"Be content, pipsqueak girl. I just gave you a purpose, a place in this world. So go slice some meat and keep her sharp. See you 'round."

There were red clouds sewn at the hem of the cloak, Shikamaru noted absentmindedly, as the monster sauntered briskly away on the road. Within moments, the Monster of Kirigakure was gone. As was the figure behind him.

Shikamaru felt the killing intent fade. He was finally released from the hand of death that had gripped his throat and he savoured every second of freedom from the pressure. Sakura trembled, but didn't fall. They had survived due to a whim of the monster, who kept them around only for entertainment. Claim it later?

The Nara shook his head; they were still breathing, and that was what mattered.

The Haruno stood in the exact same defensive position she was in before, despite the threat having left. Shikamaru breathed deeply, turned to spit the vomit taste away and wiped his mouth. He staggered when he got up from the ground and walked up to Sakura. When he got to her, he paled. Her eyes weren't pale green anymore; they were almost a startling white, the color of a marble gravestone. Her complexion was frigid and her white eyes stared into thin air. Her clothes had dried, the blood still staining the cloth, and her face was pale, contrasting the copious amount of blood splatter. She gripped the cursed katana as if her life depended on it.

Sakura's right shoulder was nearly destroyed, with muscles and tendons sticking out and blood still flowing freely (though it was more of a trickle than a stream, thankfully), but it seemed not to bother her. Like she couldn't feel pain. As he looked at the katana, Shikamaru could not deny the fact that it was cursed; it actually hummed with suppressed power. While his eyes weren't of the Hyuuga's, and thus did not have their kekkei genkai, even he could see that there was something off with the sword, that there was a movement within it which could be likened to chakra. It was malevolent, completely otherwordly in its turpitude. And that monster had come to claim it.

"Please, drop the sword. Please."

It was a sincere sentence and Shikamaru noticed that he was begging, but to hell with pride. Those creepy white eyes travelled to his own and it took all his will not to swallow, to not show that he was scared as shit.

"No. Izanami-sama won't allow me to to let her go. We're bound. We have a contract." Like frost, her words froze in his ears. White eyes.

"Who?" Shikamaru asked when the kunoichi, seemingly without thinking, stroked the bloody sword with her index finger, making the digit bleed shallowly. Sakura didn't flinch. The drops of her blood travelled down the length of the sword and then fell to the ground with a sense of finality. There was a stronger hum from the katana when the blood of the kunoichi slid down on the blank surface, as if it accepted the red liquid. As if it sealed a contract. Shikamaru shuddered and started to say something, but he was cut off by the girl who now looked at him. Really looked at him now, as if she saw him through the whiteness of her eyes.

"She... The katana, I -" she breathed, and then yelped. Shikamaru watched Sakura's eyes flood with viridian, the white disappearing into her pupil, and her eyes began to burn - she was back. The Haruno dropped the katana as if it was on fire; it fell, but within a second, Sakura had her foot underneath the flat side of the blade, balancing it, and then she gently put it down on the ground. Gently.

"Sakura-san?" he asked, incredulous. He had lived through more than he had ever expected this day. All he wanted to do was to sit on the veranda of his clan's compound and play shogi with his father, sip on his recently-brewed hot tea, and watch the clouds drift through the sky.

He knew he needed to ask her what exactly had happened when she had taken a hold of the bloody and chakra-possessed sword. He needed to know how it changed her. How she knew it was cursed. What she meant by a contract. And who exactly Izanami was. He, however, figured that it was most likely the name of the sword. But he decided to take the burden of questioning Sakura about the sword later, when they were going to write the mission report. A headache started to pound at his temples and he pinched the bridge of his nose.

The Haruno girl looked at the sword on the ground with disgust blended with admiration, suddenly seeming to realise that her shoulder was in shreds and blood was still dripping down her body, dyeing her already red top a deep vermillion colour. Shikamaru expected her to cry again and fall; that shoulder wound seemed to hurt like hell and if not taken care of, it would be life threatening. He was half-amazed she hadn't already fainted or died of blood loss.

The kunoichi wrinkled her nose and brought her healthy arm up, hand hovering against her wounded shoulder. Startling green chakra swirled around the wound from her outstretched hand, healing the ragged and inflamed skin within seconds, muscle and fat and skin coming together. No tears, no crumpled heap. She surprised him again. She had found some kind of resolve, it seemed, to improve and get stronger. She clung tightly onto that resolve.

Shikamaru only stared at her in disbelief. Sakura noticed his questioning look as she continued to heal her shoulder, a slight grimace visible in her features.

"I'm just healing it shallowly now, I'll need to break the bone again later and reattach a few tendons when we're back in Konoha. It's been a long time since I've gotten a proper amount of sleep. I've been training on dying fish every day since last month, and then, when I was ready, I tested medical procedures and techniques on myself. I couldn't save Choji... So I decided I'd be able to next time." She explained and smiled tiredly. Only now could he see it: the sleep deprivation visible in her petite features.

The dark circles under her green eyes, the glassy gleam in them. Shikamaru decided then that this girl was one of the most troublesome he had ever met, topping Ino's number one position. Even so, he found himself not being able to look away from her. She had trained on herself? Had she broken her own bones to then heal them again? He couldn't fathom the pain and concentration needed for that task.

"I see," he stated and shrugged his shoulders. "Haruno, do you know how to play shogi?" he asked, steering the conversation away from swords and monsters, as he went a bit unsteadily to the Hyuuga to pick him up. The prodigy was still unconscious. When Shikamaru slung Neji over his shoulder with a grunt, he felt silky brunette hair run like a waterfall down his back.

"Yes, I do. Not very well though. Why?" The kunoichi asked this as she finished up healing her shoulder. She then limped to Tajima, hunched down and poked at his cheek curiously. No reaction - he was out cold. Her eyes fastened on the scabbard at his hip.

"Up for a game sometime?" Shikamaru offered as he straightened. A game of shogi was the perfect excuse for him to further question Sakura about the bloody katana. The girl stood up and turned around in a flash to look at him with big eyes. Then she smiled, truly. One of her hands held the merchant's black scabbard protectively at her side.

"I'd like that, Nara-san."

Shikamaru couldn't for the life of him muster up the will to tell her not to take sword with her, but all the same he knew it was a valuable piece of weaponry and, at the very least, needed to be studied in the laboratories of Konoha. In the back of his mind, however, he knew she wouldn't give it away that easily. He decided then to keep quiet about it as she slid the sword into its scabbard. The powerful humming emanating from the katana stopped.

They left Tajima on the ground, circled by the bodies of his hired mercenaries as well the missing nin from Mizu no Kuni. Shikamaru really couldn't care less for the merchant as he saw scavenger crows flap in the nearby trees. They dragged themselves with an unconscious Hyuuga to the nearest village a mile away and sent a report to the Godaime in silence. There was no need for words between the two.

They spent some time in the village recuperating, and the Hyuuga awoke when Sakura healed the near-fatal injury inflicted on his head. the injury caused by a blow from the bandaged part of Samehada. He had received a skull fracture, and, according to the pink haired medic, it was simply plain luck that she had recently learned how to identify fractures in the skull and how to heal them accordingly. If she hadn't healed the fracture, however shallow it was, the Hyuuga might never have woken up. They told him of what had happened and that the Monster of Kirigakure had been the one to inflict damage onto the Hyuuga. Shikamaru saw how the prideful Hyuuga twitched at this as he sat on the inn's bed, since it meant he owed his life to a pink haired girl. But Shikamaru didn't think any less of Sakura after this mission, he thought as they scribbled down mission details after a fast dinner; in fact, he regarded her with more respect and dread combined. She had changed, that was for sure. Mostly, probably, due to the demon sword.

When they reached Konohagakure, a mere day after the incident, the Hokage herself met them at the gates with a medical team on standby. The team immediately took the Hyuuga to the hospital, since he had overstrained his eyes by flooding them with too much chakra much too quickly, and had also sustained a partially-healed skull fracture. Sakura and Shikamaru were left at the gates since they "only had scratches and were suffering from exhaustion," one of the medics stated with a quick look. When the Godaime saw the Haruno girl walking towards her, seemingly unharmed, she sighed in relief.

Shikamaru pushed Sakura up to the Godaime, explaining the wound on her shoulder that she had shallowly healed so only the outer skin looked fine. The Hokage's apprentice almost blushed, seemingly ashamed of her medical abilities, but the Godaime only patted the girl on the head, saying well done, then healing the damaged shoulder on the inside within minutes, leaving the Haruno girl in an amazed daze when she looked up. After patting her student's head, Tsunade went back to her office to tackle more stacks of paperwork.

Ino was there as well, gripping her white coat so hard her knuckles turned pale. She had started taking her training at the hospital more seriously after Choji's near-death experience, and she had since been promoted in the hospital. The blonde had been standing aside and only sprinted toward her friends when Tsunade had left. The white coat she wore flared in the wind as she sprinted to jump-hug both Shikamaru and Sakura. Ino didn't cry, since she often told her lazy friend it would ruin her makeup if she did, but she beamed and hugged them tightly. The hug was warm.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered in Ino's blond hair, but he was ignored. Sakura greeted her friend with a muffled hello.

"You two!" Ino pinched both Sakura's and Shikamaru's cheeks in a motherly, scolding gesture. Shikamaru winced and Sakura looked stunned. "Be more careful next time, will you?" She grinned and regarded the two with her concerned cerulean eyes.

"Yes sir," they chorused at the same time, and Shikamaru saw a smile flash on the Haruno's face. She was dirty, exhausted, caked in blood, and had a cursed katana hidden in her backpack, but Shikamaru hadn't seen her like that in nearly a year. She actually smiled genuinely.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hey! I've updated Transition a bit. Hope you'll re-read the first chapter! Sorry for my absence as well, lot of things have happened.

Cheers!

fascalia


	2. Weights

Chapter 2

Weights

Through the Eyes of a Shy Beauty, a Lovestruck Spandex Boy and a Female Weapon with Chinese Buns

* * *

_The Shy Beauty, Hyuuga Hinata_

Blushing and hating herself for it, she stalked behind the Hyuuga prodigy through a long corridor in her family's mansion. They were going to train together on orders from her revered father, and it was for the first time in a long, long while. And she was nervous. They had gotten on better terms with each other since that horrible fight in the Chuunin exams so long ago. Hinata's heart had healed well. But that fight had filled her with dread for the Branch house family prodigy ever since. When he came too close, she shrunk. She flinched, backed away. And he saw that she was uncomfortable when he was too close to her, so he stayed at least two meters away from her, always. She appreciated his small effort, but she could never forget their conversation and her pitiful fight. And his commentary on her pitiful life and her pitiful future. And the damage done to her heart, damage that was physical as well as mental. The corridor seemed to never end.

Neji came to a sudden halt and it seemed like he had realised something, having been deep in his train of thought while they had walked through the mansion. Hinata heard a low gasp, only slightly audible, coming from the Hyuuga and it baffled her.

"She took it with her. That - " Neji breathed in a deep murmur, wide-eyed, but then seemed to come back and see where he was. His steely facade settled in place on his refined features, and it softened and hardened at the same time, something only he could do.

Hinata couldn't help but take an interest. She wondered who he had meant and what the woman had taken with her. From what she knew, Neji was not interested at all in the opposite sex. Or any gender for that matter. Neji continued to wander through the seemingly endless corridor and Hinata scurried after him, not commenting on his little outburst. They exited the Hyuuga mansion and walked briskly away into town, Hinata always a few steps behind her cousin. When they neared the training grounds, which were situated near the Nara compound, a flash of pink made Hinata turn her head.

The Hyuuga girl saw Sakura strolling away from the Nara's clan compound, wearing her usual Haruno-crested red top, as well as her beige skirt, and Hinata found herself wondering when the Nara boy and Haruno Sakura had gotten on such close terms. A victorious smile was hidden from view when pink hair whirled around Sakura's face. She was apparently pleased by something. In a second, Neji stood in front of the girl, blocking her path. Hinata was stunned, but she hurried to them, trailing her fellow clan member. Why did he bother to talk to the Haruno girl?

"You took it with you, didn't you? Have you given it to the research team yet?" he growled. The emotionless, steely Neji had growled? Green eyes pierced Neji when the medic looked up at him, since he was, after all, slightly taller than her.

"Good afternoon to you too, Hyuuga-san." She smiled amiably. "And I don't know what you're talking about." She cocked her head sideways, watching him. If Hinata hadn't had the eyes of a Hyuuga, she would have missed the lie. But she didn't. She also noted how pale Sakura's eyes were. Had they always been so translucent?

"You shouldn't strain yourself. The fracture hasn't healed completely yet." The pink haired kunoichi quickly finished and spun around to walk away, but Neji wouldn't let her.

"It's not something for you to decide, Haruno. That sword shouldn't be in the hands of someone inexperienced. Or rather, it shouldn't be in the hands of anyone. I can still see trails of its black chakra on your skin." His white eyes strained and Hinata didn't know what to make of this. Sakura's finger twitched when the word 'inexperienced' left his mouth.

"It's none of your damn business." Flashing, pale-green eyes sparked as Sakura snapped at Neji. Hinata was baffled, again. Haruno Sakura had just snapped at Hyuuga Neji? This day was getting stranger by the second. If Naruto showed up all bright and neon orange and confessed his eternal love for Hinata moments later, she wouldn't be surprised. Although it was just a fantasy, she blushed, cherry-red.

"It was our mission, Haruno. It is my business," Neji replied coldly, frowning.

"You don't understand. She chose me. I can't back out." Sakura whispered, that fierceness leaving her eyes with every syllable. Hinata didn't understand most of what was going on. She concluded, however, that there was a sword, a very dangerous sword, that Sakura had gained and didn't want to give away. Neji sputtered and scowled.

"What? You don't mean to say that the sword has a consci -"

"We'll talk about this later. I need to go." Sakura cut him off, looking over her shoulder. "Meet me tonight at the Chuunin Tower. I'll... show you."

Neji only creased his eyebrows, but didn't argue. He would be there, but only because he craved answers. Sakura didn't wait for a response.

The pinkette was about to hop up onto a building when she noticed Hinata, who fidgeted and didn't know what to react with.

"Goodbye, Hinata-san." Sakura smiled, and then she was gone. Hinata was not given the time to blush and nod in her usual type of greeting.

Hinata then decided something off-the-grids reckless. She wanted to know what they had talked about; the obvious way to find out was to follow them. At the moment, not much was happening in Hinata's life and she missed Naruto terribly, that bundle of joy who seemed to have the energy of the sun. She wanted to occupy herself with something else, and right now, finding out what the two had been so upset about would do the trick. She followed a stern-faced Neji to the training fields and they indulged themselves in a spar. A few hours later, they finished. Hinata was almost a pile of sweat and exhaustion. The prodigy hadn't even broken a sweat and left her on the training grounds as the lounging tangerine sun disappeared from the sky.

The night was illuminated by the stars and the full moon, so Hinata easily made her way through the Forest of Death. Hinata was quiet and rushed; she jumped and landed silently in the tree tops, having regained her strength from the sparring session with Neji. She saw her destination as the Chuunin Tower that appeared a few yards in front of her and noted that the pinkette and her cousin already were there.

The Haruno and Neji stood beside the entrance to the tower, conversing quietly. They both wore serious expressions. When Hinata came a little closer, she could read their lips easily with her Byakugan's help. She perched on a tree branch, the dense foliage of the tree hiding her from view. Luckily for the Hyuuga girl, they were turned her way, so she could see through the canopy, and thankfully, they were also too far away to notice her. If she was to be praised for anything, Hinata would be complimented on being able to hide her chakra presence well. Actually, if anything, she had always been good at being unnoticeable, she concluded. Hinata noticed that Sakura held a katana wrapped in seals and had it pointed to the ground; Neji seemed to almost shrink away from it. Was that the sword they had been discussing?

"Oh. She scares you?" Haruno Sakura mouthed with a frown. Hinata saw directly that Sakura was not the same she had been a few hours ago, in her words, in her casual stance, in her eyes; this Sakura was too... sardonic.

"The sword does, yes. Of course it does! It's cursed and the old blood on it has made it black and scarred - and it's humming! Aren't you scared of it?"

"No."

"But it's alive! And it has a mind of its own for god's sake. You're insane, Haruno." Neji waved his hands helplessly and exaggerated the words when he called her 'insane'.

"She accepts me, that's why I'm not scared. She isn't too keen of you though. She says you're loud and nosy for a Hyuuga." The pinkette lowered her head.

"What? It speaks to you right now?"

"If I am in physical contact with her, yes, she can speak to me. But it's rather like a whisper more than anything... And she's not it, her name is Izanami-no-Tsurugi of Yomotsu Hirasaka."

"She... told you?" Neji blanched at this, his hands in hard fists at his sides.

"No. I just know it. I felt it." Sakura looked at the katana grasped in her hand, eyes paling as she did. Was that respect, admiration, and deep terror bubbling up in her green eyes? It was an odd mixture of emotions, and Hinata could only watch in fascination.

"This - this can't go on. You need to report to the Godaime about this whole ordeal. If you don't, then I will -"

In a flicker, Sakura had Izanami pointed at the Hyuuga's throat, the katana humming with bloodlust and power. He hadn't even seen her draw it or unseal the high level seals. Hinata gasped and looked on, wide-eyed.

"I suggest that you don't approach the Godaime with the matter of Izanami-sama."

"Haruno, are you threatening me?" he spat. Hinata couldn't believe her opalescent eyes.

"Perhaps."

"That is very unwise." His white eyes cold, his mouth thinned into a stern line; Hinata's cousin's stance was rigid now - as if poised to spring at any moment.

"I am aware of the fact. But she wants me, and none else. If she falls into another shinobi's hands, she will destroy everything in her way. She will call for bloodshed and blight," Sakura explained in an almost-shiver, eyes tearing away from the katana to Neji. Neither Hyuuga comprehended.

"I don't understand."

Sakura's eyes flashed white for a moment, then they were green again.

"She told me she wants to present herself. She deems you unfit, but she wants you to know about her and the risks. Take her."

Hinata froze as she perched on the tree branch, and activated her Byakugan almost unconsciously. What she saw made her pale and almost choke in surprise and dread. The katana in Haruno Sakura's outstretched grip was alive. With smouldering, charcoal-like dark chakra, chakra of carnage and times long forgotten. It was scarred and haunting, and it frightened Hinata more so than anything had ever frightened her before. Fearful tears welled up in her eyes on reflex, and by then, Hinata was shaking tremulously.

Hinata leapt off the branch and ran all the way back to the Hyuuga mansion. She'd never be so reckless again. Haruno Sakura had held in her hands a cursed, living sword, swirling with a suffocatingly malicious chakra. Hinata fell to her bed, not wanting to think any more of it. Nuzzling her head into the soft pillow, she finally let her tears fall. She decided to forget what she had seen that night.

* * *

_The Prodigy, Hyuuga Neji _

Neji hesitated. But then curiosity overcame his fear and he took the proffered hilt in his hands. When he did, the object in his hand forced him down onto the ground in a strained heap. The katana was not heavy. It was the feeling of invading coldness in his mind. And then the dark smog-like chakra seeped into him; the world and the trees and the kunoichi blurred around him and then everything was a grey fog.

He couldn't see.

All light was gone and his senses numbed, he couldn't see or hear or feel or talk. It felt like he had died - if he felt nothing, then he was nothing. Then, a presence like the tingling of a spider presented itself in front of him in a soundless, slowly-intensifying explosion. At first, in his confused and numbed state, he thought it was a divinely beautiful goddess that approached him, the white kimono flowing in layers behind her as she graciously moved towards him, as if she hovered above the ground. The black and grey smoke seemingly emanated from her whole being. It was a work of art, billowing around her, trailing behind her as she moved. But there was coldness as frosty as a winter morning present on the divine creature's exquisite face. Her smooth, black hair spread like a silky waterfall all around her, reaching the ground, and a glinting ruby, red as slick blood, adorned her forehead. He realised it was a demon. A ruby-adorned demon goddess. Neji saw a glimpse of decimation in her black eyes; they reflected no light. He drowned in them, in seas of blood.

"A Hyuuga. If any, you should have been able to see me from the beginning. I have chosen Haruno Sakura as mine bearer for now. We have a contract by blood which binds us. If you shall hand me over to another weak human, I will endue destruction to your petty village."

He couldn't speak. Her voice, clear as freezing water, trickled into his consciousness, set upon his mind, and like ice it froze into him, carving every syllable into his brain. He felt cold sweat bead up all over his body, and his stomach churned. His mind was split and pain overwhelmed him.

"You shall not disappoint me in this, child."

Hyuuga Neji clenched his fist and swallowed when the darkness disappeared and his senses came back with full force. What met his gaze was the katana lying abandoned on the ground. He had dropped it, evidently, and wet green grass grazed his sprawled form. Neji looked up, breathing hard, only to find Sakura standing before him. Her eyes were knowing and pale. What had the Haruno gotten herself into?

"I'm sorry, Neji-san, that you had to go through with this. But maybe you understand this whole situation a little better now. And - I -" Her voice was clear but she stuttered the last part, as if a burden had been lifted from her chest. She only glanced at the abandoned katana and then she walked to him. He straightened up from the ground immediately and fell automatically into a defensive stance. It was so natural it surprised him; why had he fallen into an attack position when she neared?

The Haruno seemed not to care about his hostile awareness and stood now closely in front of the Hyuuga. When he regarded her, she didn't even look at the katana. Her full focus was on him. It was unusual for him now, that she actually focused on him and not the katana, yet he couldn't help but look at her. Sakura's long, fluttering pink eyelashes, those ever-seeing celadon eyes, the creamy and healthy skin of her heart-shaped face, her lanky arms and bare shoulders, her tight-fitting red top that hugged her small body intimately and revealed the beginnings of curves, her long and slender legs, all the way to her now no longer manicured feet.

Neji felt that he reacted to her now, with a tingling sensation in his body. And this time, it wasn't because he was afraid of her; or was he? Suddenly, the Haruno leaned forward gently with her torso and her face neared his. Neji didn't expect this. What was this woman doing? She was close now, her cerise and moist lips dangerously near his face, and then she cocked her head to the left only to almost touch his ear with her lips.

"I will best her," Sakura whispered to him. She was promising this to Neji, green eyes suddenly piercingly and startlingly verdant again. Neji saw how her heart beat rapidly, saw how every thump forced her words to echo quietly. She smiled with those burning, strong eyes that emanated determination, and walked away from him, proceeding to slide the katana into the sealed scabbard as if she had done it everyday of her life. She leaped into the nearest tree, disappearing fast from his lost view.

When Sakura left, Neji slumped onto the ground again in a moment of weakness. His fingers felt the water-beaded grass, his grey pants soaking in the rain left on the ground. The Hyuuga's muscles strained and his headache was out of this world, and what was that warmth tingling on his cheeks? He was perplexed, exhausted and scared.

Sakura needed to best Izanami, or the katana would turn the pinkette into a monster, a reflection of the demon herself. Neji simply knew this fact and was reminded of Sakura's eerie white eyes. The Haruno had understood this as well, and maybe she had taken a risk telling him about her plans? Could Izanami punish her in some way or another?

Neji decided then to research the origin of the sword, find every piece of information or lore about it. And by doing so, he would prevent Sakura from falling into that bloody demon's grip. Those threats of destroying Konohagakure was not just empty promises, and however much Neji disliked the main house family for what they had done to his father, he loved Konoha. It was his home, and he would protect it. Even if it was from one of the village's own shinobi. But as Neji saw it, he realised he wanted to help the complex pinkette. It was a long time ago since he had admitted to feelings like these, feelings of wanting to help someone, but he did and he felt stronger as he accepted them. And as much as it surprised him, he wasn't all too disgusted with the idea of spending time with her. He might even feel that it would be tolerable.

* * *

_The Lovestruck Spandex Boy, Rock Lee_

As Lee strolled through the bustling streets of Konoha, he found himself falling harder for her. Sakura. She had stopped calling him Eyebrows for a while now and she regarded him with respect; respect for his own strength. She was an apprentice of the Hokage, being accepted a few months ago into the youthful medical training, she had grown a tad bit taller, and her muscles seemed to have improved somewhat. He enjoyed the thought of her taking her physical training and her diet more seriously. Lee had nothing against her scrawny figure, but she needed more fat on those arms and legs and she needed to harden that soft body of hers. He knew it would make her happier if she did, and a even more excellent kunoichi of Konoha.

The flower's youthfulness blossomed more so than others, what with that emotion Lee nowadays always saw evident in her green eyes. She had found a youthful resolve and decided on something! He recalled, to himself, his younger spandex-less days, when he had decided on something similar. She had that same walk, the determined steps that he once had. Lee couldn't stop looking at her, she walked so swiftly up to him, her dreamy pink hair having grown a bit longer and whipped around her face in the wind, so when he realised she had been talking to him, he wiped off the drool at the corner of his mouth and startled her with burning eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Sakura-san! I was elsewhere with my thoughts! What were you saying?"

He bowed deeply and grimaced at his own foolishness. She smiled and his heart stopped.

"I see. I was only asking if you needed a sparring partner for this evening? I met Neji at the library earlier this morning and he told me that you two were supposed to have trained together, but he is still not completely healed. And Tenten is training with Kurenai-sensei god-knows-where. So I was simply wondering if I could spar with you? I know I'm not really sufficient..." She trailed off and forced a few strands of roseate hair back behind her ear as she looked sideways to the stone path. Lee sniffed, a bit surprised. But glad, as he felt energy gathering in his body.

"Ah! If that is what you want, Sakura-san. I could never say no to you, my queen of flowers." He winked at her. She almost snorted, but she hid it with a gleeful snigger. She was content with his answer, it seemed.

"I'll see you in the afternoon on the training grounds, then. Later." She bid her goodbye and then she walked away to the Hokage Tower. She cracked her fingers and then her vertebrae with a slight whip of her head, preparing for paperwork at the Hokage's desk, he presumed. Lee watched her walk away. He had heard from Tenten that Sakura had been helping out at the Hokage office, easing the burden for Tsunade from time to time. His wonderful flower shone even brighter in his eyes and his platonic love for her grew.

A few hours later into the afternoon, Lee found the pinkette at the gate to the training grounds. The beautiful girl wore her usual red top with a zipper and the Haruno crest at her back, but this time she adorned her petite body with a pair of tight black pants and sturdy grey boots. Her verdant eyes were fierce as she walked up to him.

"Hey, Lee-kun. Let's spar. Taijutsu." She was right on topic and didn't talk uselessly. But she gave him an almost shy grin as she cracked her fists.

"Are you ready, my most beauteous Sakura-san? Let us indulge ourselves in the youthfulness of life!"

The spar started, and it ended much later that evening. When the pinkette fell to the ground out of exhaustion, as well as from a fast kick to her side, Lee decided to stop the spar. He had won, of course, in matters of competition - as he liked to see everything as in daily life. He couldn't go easy on her, even if she was the love of his life. Especially when she had told him not to go easy her and had that look in her eyes. She wanted this, he realised. It would be insulting to do anything less. Lee had been surprised several times, however, when Sakura used her keen intellect as an advantage and overwhelmed him with complex tactics, but his own instincts covered for his faults in the analytical and strategical department. He hadn't been touched once during their spar.

Sakura was breathing hard on the ground. Her face was flushed and sweat glistened on her skin, bruises covering her arms and legs and parts of her face. She had a bleeding wound on her leg which she healed without effort. He had been going a bit easy on her, he realised then. If he had been serious, those bruises would have been broken bones and maybe even severed body parts. He helped her up from the ground and she struggled not to fall back. The question was why? Why did she need this?

"Lee-kun, would you please evaluate my physical skills and taijutsu? Be honest with me." She huffed deeply, dried her slightly-wide forehead with the back of her hand and looked pleadingly at him. Lee raised one eyebrow. Or both. He made a mental note to work on that later. It would be youthful to raise a single eyebrow next time! He returned to the conversation at hand.

"Sakura-san, may I impudently ask why you're doing this? In your field of future work, you don't need to have more than average physical abilities, which you do have." Lee questioned her curiously and gave her a water bottle to stave off dehydration, which she drained in seconds.

"Well, I want to perfect the physical aspect of myself. I want to be able. And I believe you are the most proficient in bodily training, Lee-kun." Sakura smiled through still-gasping breaths and she knew, she knew which buttons to push. Lee felt his heart still and he almost imploded with pride. His harsh training had proven to be of more use than he had expected.

"If you deem me the most proficient in physical training, I believe I have an obligation to answer the request of a beautiful cherry blossom maiden." He gave her a wide grin and a thumbs up. The pinkette wiped more sweat off her forehead and hesitantly gave him a thumbs up back. Lee smiled even wider; she was the second of few to answer to his thumbs up.

"I will work you hard, Sakura-san! Are you prepared for a youthful training session?" Lee beamed and made a pose for her. A youthful and really cool pose he imitated from Gai-sensei, but no one needed to know that.

"Just one? Whenever you have time on your hands or when you're training by yourself, I want to be there." She stated this as she sat up and produced a few senbon, which she left in her clenched teeth, gathered her hair up in a messy bun at the top of her head, then pinned it in place with the needles to keep the pink strands out of her face. Lee fist pumped.

"Oh, Sakura-san! The spirit of your determined adolescence is uplifting. I will hear your demands and make the most youthful training sessions!"

"By youthful you mean harsh, right?" She smirked, seemingly knowing little of Lee's training schedules, only knowing enough to conclude they weren't easy. Rather, they were more like a torture schedule - straining the physical capacity of shinobi to unknown lengths. Lee had heard many genin talking about his routines like that, but he youthfully ignored them.

"Sometimes, youthfulness covers many aspects of life." Lee chirped and he felt butterflies in his stomach dance. This would be so much fun. And he got to spend time with his beautiful blossom!

"We'll start with the weights you are to have on your body at all times, including when you sleep. I'll be honest with you, Sakura-san. You need to gain a lot more muscle mass to be able to keep up with my own training sessions, so you will at first have to get used to them, and when you can match me in a race testing the limits of speed, we can start an even more youthful training schedule! Here, you can have my weights! I have four spares in my pocket."

"Right, I get your point. Ah, thanks for letting me borrow them." The pinkette said and smiled; there was so much expectation in her eyes. She really was determined to do this.

"Do not thank me just yet, my beautiful Sakura-san!" he exclaimed excitedly. She raised an eyebrow.

Lee handed her four black weights, which he easily loosened from his hands and feet. They were similar to hand cuffs, just without the chain, but they were black in colour and thin; deceptively so. They were to go around Sakura's forearms and ankles. When the pink-haired Haruno accepted them, it seemed like she had thought they wouldn't be heavy enough (because Lee had been waving them around like they were made of air), but when she took hold of them she fell forward to the ground in a shrieking heap. Lee remembered his first time handling the weights with Gai-sensei. He had fallen quite the same way Sakura had.

"They're the weight of mountains!" She coughed in surprise, not being able to lift her arms no matter how hard she tried. As she struggled with them, Lee only watched.

"No, nothing like mountains - you're not up for those yet; each of these just weigh about 50 kilos. These are the light ones." The spandex boy cheered. "They're specially designed for stealth training, so they're made small yet heavy. It's easier to carry on your person," Lee explained as he brought out spares and put them on his own wrists and ankles without trouble. Sakura's eyes widened as she watched him.

"And- wait, you have a spare set... in your pocket?" The pinkette sputtered and struggled to move on the ground. It appeared she couldn't believe he was even able to move with the weights. She couldn't move her limbs at all.

"Yes, but these spares are, sadly, too heavy for you. Gai-sensei has several spares in his pockets. I try to match Sensei's youthfulness!" Lee chirruped, stretching a bit to get used to his spare weights.

Sakura didn't answer him.

"Oh. I'll help you get them on," he said, and went to fasten the weights on Sakura's ankles. She nodded somewhat hesitantly but nonetheless agreed youthfully, and then, with difficulty, fastened the weights on her wrists. She was sprawled out on the ground and hissed like an injured kitten, all offended dignity and ready claws.

"I can't move," She determined as she lay on the ground, arms and legs stretched out at her sides. She pleadingly looked up at Lee who hunched besides her with a large grin on his face.

"Do not give up! In a few hours, the springtime of youth will bloom again and you will be able to move, Sakura-san!" He cheered and clapped his hands. The look in Sakura's eyes told him that she hadn't expected him to be this harsh. Lee could only smile, because he knew that if she craved strength, he wouldn't simply give it to her. He would present her with the choice and the encouragement, but she had to youthfully do the rest herself. That, if anything, was true strength.

"See you later, Sakura-san! I'll come back in six hours and see if you haven't been able to get up by then. If not, I'll carry you. Like a youthful prince in shining armour!" Lee started to crouch in a leaping stance, but then he was reminded of something that other shinobi possessed, but he didn't. Fortunately and conveniently, he had a chakra restraining paper seal stuffed in his pocket. Just in case.

"I almost forgot, my pink blossoming flower bud. No chakra allowed!" he said as he plastered the seal on Sakura's stomach with an almost sheepish look, which told her quietly he couldn't activate the seal without her help. Sakura wordlessly agreed. The pinkette huffed, presumably because of sweat having dried on her body, and then he helped her to lift her hand over her stomach. She activated it with a loud curse as she felt the chakra in her body being blocked from her control. He snickered and gave her a thumbs up, which she couldn't really return, what with the state she was in, and then he leapt off into the trees for more training. 500 laps around Konoha sounded youthful enough, he decided in a flash. He could've sworn though, that right as he was jumping he had heard a curse under the pinkette's breath. But it wasn't a curse directed at him for his harsh start-up of their training; no, it had been directed toward herself. She had cursed her weakness.

* * *

_The Female Weapon with Chinese-Style Buns, Tenten_

It was the weirdest sight ever, truly. What exactly had transpired in Konoha when she was gone? Tenten had only been training in Suna for a couple of weeks. What she saw out the windows from the coffee shop was astounding. Haruno Sakura was actually crawling on the street, then she was up on all fours, only to fall back, probably with a grunt, into the crawling position again, slowly getting by with steely determination. Civilians who passed her by kept her at least an arm's length away.

Hyuuga Neji followed gracefully after the pinkette, seemingly demanding something from her. Lee was jumping in circles around the crawling form of Sakura, cheering and complimenting her, yet telling her to move up on all fours again because "it will be more youthful that way." Tenten felt the tea in her throat gush out through her nose as she burst out laughing loudly. She needed to know what was going on, what with the crawling and Neji and Lee, or this sight would haunt her dreams for years. People in the coffee shop stared at her for a moment when tea dripped unabashedly from her nose, but then they redirected their gazes to focus on the more-interesting crawling kunoichi again.

"What is going on?" Tenten called out when she hopped out from the coffee shop, wiping away the tea from her nose in the process. Lee stopped short in his tracks.

"Why hello, youthful Tenten! Welcome back!" The spandex-wearing boy cheered as he gave her a thumbs up of recognition and striked some ridiculous pose. The Hyuuga looked over his shoulder, a frown forever engraved on his pretty face, and then went back to calling Sakura a 'poor form of a kunoichi'; something or other. Tenten chuckled, but was still quite baffled. Was he actually cheering her on?

"Sakura-chan has asked me to train her so she's wearing my weights. I don't know why, but it seems Neji has joined us in the quest of making Sakura-chan blossom!" Lee explained as Sakura strained her neck to look up at Tenten and slightly nodded in a rather poor greeting. She continued to crawl on the main street with determined eyes and flushed cheeks, due to either embarrassment or strain, Tenten didn't know. It seemed she was heading for the Hokage Tower. Was she going to work... with those weights?

"What? You train her? Is she mad?" She howled with laughter, earning a sour look from Sakura who had been successful in moving about, say, a meter away from them. Lee sniffed, and if he were anyone else, he might've protested indignantly.

"I believe so, yes." The Hyuuga boy agreed with that same frown on his face, still trailing behind the determined and exhausted Sakura, who was climbing the ground for the life of it.

Tenten minutely flinched; what had gotten into him? Making conversation outside of training? This had to have some backstory to it. Tenten could sniff it in the air already. What kind of serum had the Haruno used on the Hyuuga? Perhaps a Hyuuga-antidote? The thought of it made Tenten snort.

* * *

_The Powerful Alcoholic, Senju Tsunade_

Tsunade drew a long breath and stamped down her seal on a request paper, one of thousands of papers stacked on her desk and arranged around the room. She set the cylindrical seal down and stretched, cracking a few joints in the process. Tsunade looked over the Hokage's office, her office, and found stacks of paper lining the sides of the walls, which she tried to ignore without effort. What found her gaze then was a photo on the opposite side of her office. It was a picture of herself and a pink haired girl who smiled sheepishly at the camera.

Tsunade jolted as she took in the photo. The busty woman in the photo grinned widely behind Haruno Sakura and had a hand on top of the pinkette's head. The blond leader frowned and recalled she actually had an apprentice. It was difficult though, because she didn't have the time needed for her apprentice - since she was Hokage.

There were requests to be approved or rejected, filing to do, meetings with the Fire Daimyo, negotiations with Shizune (for saké and to get out of paperwork, of course), missions to be assigned to the appropriate team, mission reports to assess, the occasional council meetings with the Elders as well as that Danzō bastard (who always seemed to have a god damned stick up his ass), construction permits to handle, improvement plans concerning infrastructure that needed to be looked over, Academy curriculum revisions that needed to be supervised, work at the hospital when there were procedures too difficult for the medics, and there was Shizune to occasionally train as well.

The saké drinking maybe wasn't such a out-of-place habit of hers, since this work took its toll on her. Tsunade didn't really know what she'd been thinking when she accepted the girl as her apprentice six months prior. Had she believed she could magically produce time for Sakura? Tsunade huffed and regarded her schedule for the day and saw an unusual three hour window of blank space in the afternoon, and the same the day after. Her nut brown eyes lit up and her finely plucked blond brows raised.

Tsunade sent a messenger to the Haruno's house for a training session with her apprentice that afternoon.

A few hours later, they stood in a small, clinically white, and sterile hospital room in the cellar of the General Hospital of Konoha. Tsunade noted that the girl's muscles had improved a lot underneath that red top, and she guessed the hidden weights on her ankles and wrists were the cause of the visible increase in strength. However, the girl still moved a bit stiffly, a bit slower. At least she was moving, not crawling. Tsunade had heard rumours amongst the nurses that the Haruno had done a lot of that in the beginning of her weight training. She had even crawled to Tsunade's office to work.

In front of Tsunade and Sakura there was a steel-clad operation table where several twitching fishes lay sprawled, all barely alive in their assigned metal boxes. Scalpels and knives and needles lay in front of each box. Her apprentice looked with not-so impressed eyes at the struggling river creatures, and Tsunade noted that there were dark circles under her apprentice's eyes.

The Godaime chuckled to herself; her apprentice probably didn't understand what she was to do with them. Tsunade decided to level up the training; this part would be harsh and unforgiving. This would challenge the girl's intellectual abilities, her medical knowledge and her chakra control.

"You have been following the strict training schedule I gave you a month ago, I presume?"

"Yes, I have, Tsunade-sama."

"Good. You have also read and practiced the medical literature I gave you?"

"Yes. And a bit more at the library."

"Even better. Now, this will be hard, and I don't expect you to be able to do it anytime soon. You will need to practice a lot," Tsunade said lackadaisically and stole a look at the girl; her viridian eyes were still unimpressed. Tsunade frowned.

"I'll show you how to do it first, then it's your turn."

"Yes."

"Watch closely."

The Godaime reached out for one salmon that was near death, and with her slender fingers, healed it with soothing chakra. The struggling fish relaxed, as if under water.

"See, I let my chakra heal the drying branchia and let the chakra flow like water around the oxygen, so now it believes it can breathe. You should already know the theoretical aspects of it. Your turn, take this one."

The pinkette healed the fish within moments and it stopped moving, calmed down by the comforting chakra. It almost happened too fast. Tsunade raised a thin eyebrow, wordlessly demanding her student to explain.

"I have done some training on my own," she explained with a shrug.

"That was... Unexpected, yet not unwelcome. This means I can re-evaluate your healing skills. The next fish will have severe brain damage."

This continued for another hour with each and every fish having different injuries or illnesses, and Tsunade didn't want to admit that she was impressed with the little girl, but she was. This meant that she needed to fast forward the training schedule she had had in mind for Sakura.

"Tomorrow we will begin evasion training instead of doing this. Meet me three o' clock at training ground seven. Don't be late."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama. I look forward to it."

Master and student parted, and the Hokage continued on with the remainder of her busy schedule. The rest of the evening for Tsunade was filled up with meetings; one with with the shinobi law enforcement division's chief, followed by a short conference with the Academy teachers. When she was finished at eleven o'clock, she needed to get her frustrations out somehow, and the only way she knew how was to go drinking. The constant pressure added on to her apprentice being steps ahead of her planned training schedule made the Godaime indulge herself in the wonders of saké. Tsunade drank away her troubles at the local bar together with the pleasant company of Shizune. She avoided the gambling tables, thankfully. Then again, Shizune had been careful to keep Tsunade a certain distance away from the tempting myriad of expensive chips. At the end of the night, the Godaime Hokage, a pleasant warmth spreading through her veins, was escorted home by an exasperated Shizune.

The next morning at eight o'clock sharp, a growing headache settled in the Hokage's head and she never wanted to get out of bed, but duty called. She felt nauseous all the day through, during meetings and when she signed loads and loads of paper stacks until her wrist was in pain. When it was time for the evasion training with her apprentice, she took the colour explosion balls with her in a hurry, grumbling curses under her breath all the way to training area seven.

When she threw the first colour bomb casually at the Haruno, there was at first an eerie silence, and then a light at point of contact, and then it exploded as it hit the ground. Deep vibrations reverbated through the earth as it created a large crater, and fires took ahold of the dry grass.

It was a real bomb.

How could Tsunade have been so foolish to mix the real bombs with the colour bombs? The hangover made her back away from the explosion, as the shockwave almost made her topple over. She accidentally bumped into the box filled with the other bombs, and she knew instantly that, due to the vibrations, she set them off to detonate within three seconds. In a flash, she jumped away from the box unsteadily, but she was still too close to the box when she landed. Tsunade landed just as it set off, and a huge explosion destroyed everything within a 4-meter radius. A large crater, a few fires, and pieces of the ground lay everywhere.

But Tsunade found herself wobbling at a safe distance away. She hadn't died. She looked besides her to find Sakura holding the hem of her shirt in a hard grip, which loosened when she saw her teacher's look. She had saved her? When the Slug Sannin took in the appearance of the girl, she saw severely inflamed skin and burn marks all over Sakura's body, the hem of her red top smouldering and melting away, revealing her stomach, but she didn't whimper in pain. Her eyes were strained, but she was alive. Her petite face was covered in shiny crimson patches, and the skin of her cheek hung loosely in such a nauseating way Tsunade wondered why the girl hadn't passed out yet.

"You alright there, Tsunade-sama?" the pinkette asked, her voice rasping through the crackling of the fires left by the explosions, her lips chapped and burned. When wounds oozed on her red and pink skin, and blisters started to reveal themselves, the Haruno girl asked her that infallibly stupid question. The pinkette staggered a bit, but still stood, facing the Hokage. Wondering if she was alright.

"You idiot!" Tsunade scowled as she puffed her large chest and started to work on Sakura's blisters, her flowing chakra healing them first, and then the burn marks and wounds and then there was the blood. Tsunade blanched. She couldn't. She just couldn't. She looked away and felt sick, almost stumbling on her own feet. Blood. Dan. That red liquid running down the body. Dan. Dan.

"I'll heal myself, Tsunade-sama. You don't need to. I know you can't stand blood. It's okay," Sakura croaked out.

"No." Tsunade wheezed through gritted teeth, still looking away to the fires that had started to die out in the wind. "It's not okay. I was the fucking dumbass who brought explosives instead of colour bombs! I could have gotten you killed! I should at least be fucking able to heal your burns."

"It's okay, Tsu -"

"Oh, for fuck's sake! It's not! Stop that. Just... stop." The pinkette was silent as the Hokage interrupted her in a mix of frustration and… Something. Tsunade heard the Haruno's hitched breathing and she knew the burns were starting throb and tingle with pain as the adrenaline probably left the girl's system. Tsunade took a deep, deep breath until her lungs burned.

"I'll heal you. But I need to close my eyes." The revered medic nin breathed heavily as she turned around, eyes closed as she searched for Sakura's wounds with a light brush of her fingers. Tsunade felt them on her scarred arms and she felt the slick blood slide underneath her nails as the girl winced. She shuddered involuntarily and gulped down the vomit in her throat. It's just water, thick water, just liquid.

"I wasn't afraid of blood before, in my early years a medic." She told the pinkette quietly as she traced her arms for burns. When she felt both the tender, inflamed skin and the slight wince, she healed it efficiently, regenerating the burned cells and weaving the destroyed skin together. Tsunade breathed deeply, blinking away tears as she looked down. Then she closed her eyes again.

"I was pretty fucked up after Dan died. I couldn't really feel anything. I could intellectualise a lot of stuff; I could tell myself that I had a purpose, that I was loved, but I couldn't actually feel anything. And that was when my fear of blood had its growth spurt. I became a sorry excuse for a medic, and a sorry excuse for a Sannin."

"I'm... I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama," the girl whispered. Emotions filled her voice until it burst at the end of her sentence.

"Don't be." She mumbled as she felt a huge burn on Sakura's shoulder underneath her fingers, festering and smouldering still. The girl yelped in pain, but she didn't jerk away from the Hokage's touch. Tsunade felt her chakra drain slightly as she directed it into the wound. She felt the burn fade and the oozing come to a stop. It was still hot underneath Sakura's skin.

"Where are the other burn marks?" Tsunade asked, teeth gritted, eyes closed in concentration. The pinkette didn't answer, and instead, quietly guided the Hokage's hand down to her right leg. Tsunade gulped as she felt even more blood beneath her fingers, and once again, she needed to tell herself that it was just water, just water, just really thick and warm water. She healed the wounds on the girl's thigh as efficiently as the Slug Sannin's skill would allow her to, and distractedly deduced that the cuts and bruises inflicted on the girl's leg were as a result of the flying debris from the explosion.

They went to the hospital later, Tsunade insisting on carrying her apprentice. Sakura protested at first, but as the girl realised she couldn't walk, she grumpily let the Hokage lift her up in her arms, carefully. When they were at the hospital, she was put in the care of the best medics. Sakura stayed there for four days.

But she never let any of the nurses take off her weights.

* * *

**Author's Note**

28/4-15

Update! Woop. Help by** isolationism**, my wonderful Beta saviour. Love you guys.


	3. Sweet Dreams

**Transition**

Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.  
/Non-Canon

Chapter 3

Through the eyes of a Prodigy, a Cloud Watching Boy and a Flower Girl

* * *

_The Prodigy Hyuuga Neji_

They sat inside a dimly lit room of the Library of Konoha in the early morning, the birds chirped enthusiastically outside the windows and the sun slowly crept up from the horizon. Sakura sat opposite him and there were stacks of books surrounding her space on the table near the window. She went through several medical scrolls as if her life depended on it, chewing absentmindedly on her pencil. A white cup of steaming black coffee was at her hand, in near proximity to aid the fight against her morning tiredness. He had noted that the dark circles underneath her eyes had deepened, but he didn't ask her about it. It was something the pinkette had to take care of herself and he had no place in meddling with her sleeping habits. Neji had his own very thick and withered book which was about sword-related lore of Fire Country, dating the lore back to one thousand years. He hadn't found anything of interest yet.

As he looked up from the old words and sentences he watched her fast eyes take in the information of the scroll in her hand, then she quickly scribbled something down on her notebook. The weights on her wrists and ankles were still there, sometimes reminding her of the heaviness when she lifted her arm with strained muscles. She had stubbornly been wearing them for two weeks now, but she had somehow gotten used to them. But she still had a far way to go to be able to keep up with Lee's training schedule, Neji knew. His team mate was somewhat of a training obsessed lunatic and always had such ridiculous antics going on he didn't even know how to react to them anymore. But Sakura seemed to be comfortable in Lee's company.

The Haruno's bandages were so many it was almost to the point of overdoing it, covering almost every part of her body except for her face which was adorned with a gauze at her cheek. Her hair was the only thing that hadn't taken too much damage, as it fell over her shoulders in pink waves. She had probably worn her hair inside a bandana, he considered. It had grown longer. He had heard about the explosion incident from overhearing the maids at the Hyuuga compound; Sakura had accidentally set off several bombs a few days ago and she had been in the middle of it. The rumours came from the nurses at the General Hospital, where Sakura had explained what had happened. Neji had much difficulty seeing the Haruno making that stupid mistake, and he wondered how the Hokage had been so luckily near training area seven to heal her wounds directly. He had seen the Hokage just outside the library before he had met up with Sakura in the morning. The Godaime seemed to have been really mad about something, grumbling 'that idiot' when the busty blond passed him. He had left it at that.

As he watched her over the pages of his book, he noticed something. Something out of place in her eyes as she took in the medical information. _Disinterest_. Why was that? He couldn't get the question out of his mind, so he decided to break the morning silence of the library.

"Why are you aspiring to be a Medic?" He asked, his opalescent eyes on her. The pinkette flinched and looked up at him from her scroll, the pencil still in her open mouth. As if she had been caught doing something un-allowed.

"What? Why are you asking?" She blurted, trying to hide her surprise as she took out the pencil from her mouth. Neji noted with a slightly wrinkled nose that the pencil had almost been chewed to the core.

"You don't seem so interested." He stated as he looked down on the page, continuing to read about an ancient katana absentmindedly. It was a warrior lord's katana and was described as the colour of red because of the blood stains. He turned the page.

"Well... These books are incredibly boring, but full of useful information." She said, still not answering his question. He frowned and his gaze went back to her petite bandaged form in front of him. His gaze promptly told her to answer him and she slumped in defeat on the chair with the coffee cup in her hand.

"You need to understand two things. I believe the medic profession to be one of the more important aspects as part of shinobi community. However, I also believe that the medical training should be offered to every single shinobi hence it would be more useful that way in battle, and a shinobi should not be determined for the ability to use chakra control for the medic profession. I have recently learned that there are a lot of jutsus and medical treatments that doesn't require perfect chakra control. Second of all, my parents are very... protective. I am their only daughter and offspring so I can theoretically understand their concern, but since I am a shinobi of Konoha I can't be stuffed in an ironclad box filled with cotton for the rest of my life. So my parents decided that the most safe way for me to be a ninja is to be a Medic. Instead of standing at the front lines I will be in the back and treat the wounded, out of harm's way." She finished, sighed, and sipped from her coffee. Neji drew an almost unnoticeable deep breath in realisation.

"You don't want to be a Medic." He concluded and Sakura almost coughed up her coffee.

"That's- uh." Was all she could say since she knew she couldn't lie to him. None could. Haruno blushed as her eyes looked everywhere but at his own. "Don't tell anyone." She almost whispered to him, clenching the coffee cup in her hands.

"What do you wish to be, if not a Medic?"

Her eyes flashed pale green as they locked on his own. He almost shivered at the recollection of her white eyes, but he didn't shiver since he was a Hyuuga. A Hyuuga doesn't show emotions of weakness or emotional distress. He would never admit it to anyone, but to himself - that he was afraid of those eyes and it wasn't because of that demon goddess Izanami, even though she also made him feel terror as he'd never felt before. It was because the Haruno had seemed so true to herself in those moments of blood and those white eyes. As if she belonged in the carnage. This time, the prodigy actually shuddered. And then the girl answered him.

"Strong. I want to be in the front lines and face the enemy head on, together with my team mates - to be at their side. Strong enough to be at their side. I want to prevent them from dying instead of simply praying for their safety in the back. I have just had _enough_... of watching their backs."

He knew which people she was talking about. The Kyuubi container and the Uchiha bastard who had left her here. Left her, to obediently wait for them. Neji felt a vein throb on his forehead and he didn't know why he was angry.

"That's where you guys are different." She suddenly smiled and he saw lights reflect in her verdant eyes in the dim library.

"You don't show me your back. You believe in me. You don't insist on protecting me and most of all, you believe that I will be strong one day. That I will be able to protect myself, and even those around me. And I can't express in words just how grateful I am for that trust in me." Her voice was clear and in the humid atmosphere of the library, Neji felt something iron hard clench his heart.

He _had_ wanted to protect her, somehow. From Izanami mostly. He felt guilty but didn't understand why. As he watched her again, her smile could overthrow one of Naruto's obnoxious grins of pleasantness. He decided, right then and there, that he wouldn't protect her. He would only help her in getting stronger and by doing so, he knew, he was protecting her in a different way. Since he would not always be by her side, he couldn't physically help her. She would have to defend herself.

Neji frowned. Where was this sudden protectiveness coming from? This wasn't like him at all. Nothing like how a Hyuuga should be. Maybe... he needed some time away from the Haruno. She was only confusing him. But he knew he couldn't stay away from her. What with the possible threat of that cursed katana, he couldn't let her go.

However, he had a hard time understanding the Haruno as she continued to read the medical literature with a soft quirk of her lips. Her personality before, when they were Genin, had been so easy to discern. She had been so fluffy and bubbly, incredibly shallow, lax yet hard working in her textbook studies, intelligent, not very self confident, angry at times, lonely but loved by her parents, narcissistic, love-struck by the Uchiha, and most of all - annoying.

Almost none of these personality traits could be seen in her anymore. It confused him and unknowingly actually irritated him. He had always been able to see through people's facades and deep into their core personality. But she was somewhat more than that and it perplexed him. At times he'd see her bubbly and easy going side show, but it was gone in an instant. She was not so annoying anymore. She was calculated, a trait which had been visible before but had been suppressed. She was complex. She trained until she was exhausted to the point of over doing it, but she wasn't strong. Just yet, maybe? Her steps were light and silent. Her eyes were hard, but changeable. Like the tidal waves of the ocean, she was ever changing.

Like an evolutionary aspect of life she had transitioned, he stated to himself as he turned the page in his book of swords. He focused on the words about a silver coloured katana's greatness which was now long forgotten.

* * *

_The Cloud Watching Boy Nara Shikamaru_

He invited her over at least twice a week to play shogi with him at the Nara compound's veranda, which overlooked the flourishing green garden. He had heard of the explosion incident the other day, so he wasn't surprised that there were bandages all over her body underneath her red tight top and beige skirt, and there was a large gauze on her cheek. This time, however, when she had been let in and offered tea, he had seen it. It was so obvious, yet hard to understand.

"Why aren't you sleeping, Sakura?" He drawled, making his next calculated move on the shogi board. She watched his fingers move the piece with heavy-lidded eyes. The score was 10-11, in his favour. He never cared much about winning, even though he had without effort always won in board games for the exception of his father, but this troublesome girl had proven to be more intelligent than he had at first thought and he actually _wanted_ to win over her. She had surprised him the first time of shogi playing by winning and he wouldn't let her do it again.

"I do. Sometimes." She answered simply as she sipped from her hot tea, regarding the board in front of her. Shikamaru could see her mind working, searching for possibilities, trying to predict his goal and plotting her next move.

"Seems like 'sometimes' isn't enough. You look like crap." He sighed and folded his arms across each other. The girl looked up at him, squinting with her green eyes.

"Thanks. One could say the same for you." She smiled sardonically and moved a piece. Shikamaru was naturally sleazy eyed and so didn't take the insult to heart, he simply followed her movements with his eyes and couldn't help but feel satisfaction settle in his chest. It had been the right move and it would be difficult to overthrow her now. A perfect challenge.

"Really, Sakura. Sleeping is nice. Why won't you?" He coaxed and sipped his tea. It was hot and burned his tongue, but he didn't say anything.

"It's... I have nightmares." She looked down on her hands which held the dark blue tea cup. Her knuckles whitened and Shikamaru feared that the exquisite porcelain his family had passed down for generations would break and then his mother would break him.

"I see, that's unpleasant. Would you like to talk about it?" He tried to show concern and he found it easily. He had grown to have some kind of friendship with the girl, it seemed.

"I'd rather not." The pinkette said quietly. Shikamaru sighed, but acknowledged her.

"Alright."

Shikamaru then regarded the board and moved a piece. He had been playing this game all of his life with his father, so it was really easy for him with already many strategies in the back of his head. He wondered when the Haruno girl had had time to practice shogi, and with whom.

"Where did you learn shogi?" He asked with a wave of his hand towards the board game.

"At the library." The pinkette sipped her tea, her gaze wandering outside to the lush Nara garden.

"Someone taught you?" He continued to press with arms folded. A librarian perhaps?

"Analysis of and Strategies in Shogi playing by Hisama Gaki did."  
"A book?" He heaved. He would've been baffled, but this troublesome girl had turned out to be so full of surprises lately that he didn't find it in him to be astonished by her anymore. As the Haruno bent over to move a piece, one of the bandages fell slightly from her arm when the clip fell from the movement. It revealed a few healed burns on her pale skin of her arm, but there were a few scars as well, thinly crescent shaped scars on the side of her arm. They should have been healed away, the medics at Konoha General always did, leaving the skin perfectly unscarred. This piqued his interest.

"Are those scars?" He pointed out, one eye brow raised.  
"Yes?" She looked at him as if he was stupid, and that was a very rare look directed at a Nara. His ears flushed warm.

"Why haven't you healed them? I mean, polished them away?" He explained and wondered as she started to fasten the bandages with a monotonous movement. Her green eyes then met his, and there was almost an electric current passed between the two shinobi. Shikamaru almost backed down, but he continued to stare at her. Those eyes were so... deep.

"Scars defines a person. If you are weak enough to gain them, then they should stay as blunt marks of reminisce. It also shows your determination to live as a shinobi."

He pondered her answer and found that she was right; they did define a person. Like Hatake Kakashi's famous scar, or Iruka's scar going horizontally on the bridge of his nose. But she was a girl, wasn't she? Wasn't scars a girl's worst nightmare? He regarded her many bandages, the dark circles beneath her heavy lidded eyes, her outrageous pink hair that had ground a bit beneath her shoulders, her petite form that had gained impressively slender muscles since the start of the 'Youthful Training' sessions. Maybe he had preconceived ideas about girls, he found himself realising.

"Tsunade-sama healed most of them on the spot, but I decided that the more shallow scars were to stay." She said as she moved another piece, earning a look from Shikamaru. That textbook she had learnt from seemed to have explained most of the strategies he already knew, so he needed to be innovative in the game, however troublesome that was.

When they neared the end of the game and Shikamaru was the obvious winner, she opened her mouth. Shikamaru eyed her and couldn't help but flinch at the pain visible in her heavy-lidded yet sharp emerald eyes. She was going to tell him about her nightmares, and there was some kind of appreciation settling in his chest when he realised. She trusted him.

"Sleep deprivation isn't all fun and games." She breathed and locked her hands together. "I can't sleep because I am afraid. Izanami-sama deems me insufficient in my current condition. She has decided to train me in my dreams, to widen my perspectives and to strengthen my mental state. And I... can't take it." The pinkette almost broke into a high-pitched sound at the end of her sentence, yet remained tearless. Shikamaru frowned and helped himself up to sit beside her. A comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Why is that demon doing that? How?" Shikamaru asked, trying to compose himself. She had told him one week ago about the truth of the katana during a shogi game, as he had predicted she would. The Hyuuga knew about it already and had accompanied her while on one of her weekly visits. Shikamaru had known, somewhat, that there was some kind of spirit inside the cursed katana. Nothing else could have explained the happenings of the Tajima mission a month ago. The sword, he had learned, was called Izanami. And it was a demon of some sort, maybe a fallen goddess according to Neji, and she had a contract with Sakura. But what Shikamaru couldn't see was if it had been a contract deliberately formed by Sakura, or if she had been forced to agree to it. He didn't dare ask her since he was afraid of what she would tell him.

"We share a connection, a bond. She can whisper words to me nowadays, even if I don't touch her. She's almost always whispering. And because of our contract, she can invade my mind when I'm asleep and my mental state lets go of all the barriers. She can just waltz inside my head. And Izanami-sama is training me because if I'm not strong enough, I'm not worthy of bearing her. The contract states that she is to see... blood at my hands, but if I die too soon because I'm too weak- She won't be satisfied with just that." Sakura explained and bit her lip. Shikamaru massaged his thumb gently on her shoulder, comforting.

"What kind of training?" He tried to get her to look at him, but her eyes stayed frozen at the hands she had folded in her lap.

"You don't want to know." She bit off and now finally looked him in his eyes. Focusing on him and solely him. Green, pale eyes offered him nothing to give in regard of emotions.  
"I do." He sniffed and stretched his hand for the ceramic cup. He thought he did at least.

"Well. My dreams... It's a battlefield. Always a battlefield, a thousand of years old. It's during the day, with a cloudless blue sky and the sun shines on a wide field landscape, but it's still... dark. The sky is hidden at times by scavenger crows. There is red stains on the muddy grass fields. Mutilated rotting corpses cover the green grass in heaps and broken bones and it smells. It really smells. The stench is almost the worst, it stings my eyes and is sour." She looked down again, defeated by her own emotions and memories, clenching her fist.

"That's horrible." Shikamaru tried, but then her eyes flashed angrily at him. Had they been white, for just a moment?

"That is nothing!" She growled. "It's when _she_ appears. With an army of blank faced soldiers behind her, strictly walking towards me from the horizon. She puts me in the lowest ranks with only one kunai and a light harness. She then vanishes and sits in the middle of the battlefield, in a small throne of sorts. The enemy army and my army only passes her by, as if she doesn't exist. And her black eyes are always on me, following my every move. I always end up in the front lines to be sacrificed as the first plunge at the enemy army, with my one kunai. I _die_ in every dream session. She is able to change slight things in each dream sequence, sometimes I'm facing shinobi of Sunagakure or Mizu no Kuni in the enemy army, sometimes faces I don't recognise, sometimes even shinobi warriors from Konoha. Sometimes, my own fucking family dons the enemy armours." She squeezed her eyes shut, ashamed. Shikamaru could only guess what she had done in her dream.

"She hasn't put the faces of my friends there yet. Not you nor Neji, Lee, Hinata, Tenten or Tsunade. Not... Naruto. Or Sasuke for that matter. I don't know what she's planning to do. The worst is... it feels so real. I can feel the metallic bloody taste on my tongue, I can feel my wounds, I can hear their dying screams as clear as day, the ringing of metal against metal and the orders directed to the ranks by the captains hitched voices. She has started giving me different weapons. And then one time a broken katana, but not her. Even worse is that I get _better_. Each time, I claw my way through metal, flesh and bones and I reach further and further into the depths of the enemy army."

Shikamaru took a deep breath. This was far off more than what he had imagined.

"And so, lately, she has started to appoint higher positions to me. A few nights ago I was Strategist in Command for the the second division in the west flank. We sat for what seemed to me in the dream to be hours in a war tent together with blank-faced commanders, planning and discussing the best way to attack the enemy army with papers of information everywhere and a board with the armies pointed out with wooden pieces. We went through formations, the different skills of the divisions; and which ones we were to _sacrifice_. I couldn't do it, so I was punished." She stared, unseeing, out into the garden.

"You were punished? But it's just a dream. It's not real."

"Izanami-sama can make it real. She can make me feel it. And when I was punished by having them first hammer spikes into my body, setting candles on top of them to make the stearine drip into my blood stream and in doing so, numbing my body and then it got to my heart, and then they cut off my parts of my body and then set me on fire, I screamed so loudly my parents and neighbours woke. I wake them every night." Shikamaru shivered involuntarily.

"It-that... I don't understand how that is even part of training. To punish you for a moral and must justified thought process is wrong. She might be testing your tolerance of pain, but that is just ridiculous. Since it's just a dream, Sakura."

"I know, but truthfully, it really isn't just a dream to me. It's too real, too fresh in my mind. I kind of understand how war veterans must feel. I feel too old, ancient almost. Like I'm not _supposed_ to live, when so many others have died. I have died as well, just so many times in my dreams, the lines between reality and dream has become blurred."

Shikamaru couldn't find the right words to say, so he said nothing. Only squeezed her shoulder.

"I think I'm going to move out from my parent's house." Sakura slipped the words out of her mouth before she had even realised it to be true, and then drank the last of the now cold tea liquid. As she put the ceramic tea cup on the low table, she moved to draw the last piece of the shogi game and Shikamaru's eyes widened as she put it in its position. _How_? With all the odds against her - she had won?

"See you next week, Shikamaru."

She stood and left him there, all wide eyes and mouth slightly agape. He decided to watch clouds the rest of the day, having abandoned the board game, which he didn't touch. The pink haired girl was just so damn intriguingly _troublesome_.

The next day he wandered through the garden and appreciated the view of the flowers and the trees growing as domes above his head, letting shafts of sun lights stream through the canopy on the green grass below. Training with Asuma-sensei had been appointed later that day since Ino's schedule at the hospital was quite hectic. They were going to prepare for a B-class mission soon and Asuma-sensei had told them he needed to re-evaluate their skills since he had noted some improvements in the team.

Shadows played on the ground and he knew that this place was where he felt most at home, where he belonged, in the shadows. He silently walked, lounging and looked up through the canopy to find parts of the blue sky visible. A tap on his shoulder made his heart stop for a second, he hadn't felt a presence nor heard any steps towards him. As he turned around only to see pink hair, he relaxed. But a question nagged in the back of his mind; when had Sakura learnt to mask her chakra presence to this extent?

"Sakura. I thought you'd come back next week. Up for another shogi game?" He smirked.

"Yes, but I need to talk to you. No shogi this time." Her eyes were clear and the dark circles around her eyes seemed to have faded somewhat. He felt something tingle in his chest; she needed him?

"You slept last night?" He asked as it dawned on him and they started to walk through the alley, closely beside each other.

"I did. But the training session this time was different. It has always been the same battlefield scenery, so I don't know what to make of it; it's really confusing. It almost seemed like Izanami-sama had no control over last night's dream sequence."

"How was it different?"

"When I came to, I was in a tea house. It was a really old tea house, everything - the furniture, the house, the tables, should have been withering, but it seemed like they were newly made. I found myself sitting behind a small table and in front of me... Izanami-sama sat there. She was different this time. It seemed like she couldn't control the dream and she growled. I was afraid and couldn't move; Izanami-sama has that kind of impact on me still. All she eats is blood and flesh through the katana. But I couldn't turn away, her face was younger somewhat and that ruby adorning her forehead had changed into a sapphire. She was so beautiful, even when she scowled as she couldn't move up from her sitting position. Her black hair fell around her in waves, her white yukata was the colour of the moon. She was so different. Then that man came in and settled besides me."

Sakura viewed the alley and her pale eyes glistened, just like the sapphire she had described on Izanami's forehead. Shikamaru couldn't look away.

"He presented himself as Izanagi and made tea for us, in a traditional way. He was really graceful, beautiful and had the same kind of hair style as Izanami and he just seemed to emanate power in his every move. Then I saw anger and hatred and maybe even sadness and regret flare in Izanami's eyes as she silently sat on the other side of the table. She didn't receive tea from him. Izanagi was kind to me but he looked at Izanami with disgust, almost as if she was rotting and had bugs creeping over her body. He never talked to her once. Izanagi left then, gallantly, but as if running away from Izanami's piercing hatred. Then Izanami looked at me and spoke without that freezing coldness in her voice."

Sakura breathed deeply and collected her memories of the dream. She closed her eyes with fluttering pink eye lashes, like the batting of wings.

_"I loved him once. _Izanami confessed, her sapphire glinting. Her eyes black._ He loved me once, too. Until the day he saw what I had become. Then my world fell apart and yours was created."_

Sakura said and quoted the demon's confession, her eyes opened and far away into the distance, somewhere Shikamaru couldn't see. He didn't know what to comment on in this dream sequence.

"We need to investigate Izanami. This can't go on. If this continues, you will seriously die from sleep deprivation. Or she will kill you. Or you'll go insane because of those whispers. Whatever." Shikamaru said simply then as they neared the Nara mansion at the end of the alley.

"I know, thank you very much. Me and Neji are working on it. She won't kill me though, just make me suffer. She needs me but I don't know why."

"I can help you guys out, if you want. But I won't do it if it's too much work." He said and kicked a stone with his foot. The stone crashed hard into a tree a few yards away and was stuck in the bark, the vibrations from the stone made the canopy of the tree let go of a bundle of leaves to scatter in the wind of spring. Sakura smiled, then her countenance stiffened and she stopped walking.

"_Oh_." Was all she said. Shikamaru raised one eyebrow in question. She looked at him, wide-eyed, her cheeks flushed, a hand covering her open mouth.

"That... The dream sequences. All of them. They are the echoes of her memories."

* * *

_The Flower Girl Yamanaka Ino_

She had had enough. It was about time for them to have a one-on-one girl talk. She had swiftly looked up the forehead's schedule in secret. So when the blond girl showed up in front of Sakura's new apartment that late Saturday evening, surprise was visible in her green eyes.

"You. Me. Girl's night." She growled and irritably flicked her now long pony tail behind her back. A perfectly manicured finger pointed accusatorially towards the baffled pinkette who hung at the opened door in the shadows of the lights behind her.

"You're so deep in this training shit I haven't even seen your pink cheap bubblegum hair around the hospital for weeks! Friends _meet_ and _talk_. You seem to have forgotten this worldly fact so I'm here to remind you that I exist as well. There are things outside of your ridiculous weights and training!" She hissed as she stomped inside the apartment. Boxes laid in structured stacks everywhere she looked with her squinting disapproving eyes. She would decorate this mess into a beautiful apartment none the matter what that girl said.

"Ino..." Sakura mumbled. "I'm sorry. I have been busy. Do you want some tea?" The Haruno girl asked as she scurried inside after Ino, shutting the door after her. Ino turned to answer the pinkette that it was saké that they were going to consume tonight, but then she got a real good look at the pinkette's face in the light of the hallway.

"Oh, _god_, Forehead. You look like Choji landed on your face and farted." Ino blinked and said without thinking; she saw the pinkette snort, then burst out laughing until there were tears in her eyes. Ino saw how the tension in her shoulders disappeared.

"Ino, I missed you more than I thought." Sakura dried the tears in her eyes and Ino acted offended and sniffed.

"You stinking billboard brow. You always miss me."

"I stand corrected, Ino-pig." Sakura huffed with a grin and went into the living room followed by Ino.

"I should change your nickname, by the way." Ino chirped and swung with her arms in some kind of dance. "You have changed so much since our early rivalling years. I mean, you train all the time and so on. Even though your forehead is as large as ever, I think it's time for a change."

"Oh? And what do you have in mind?" Sakura called as she slowly went into the kitchen.

"_Fartface_." Ino gleefully declared and she heard a loud snort from the kitchen. Ino bounced into the other room triumphantly to find Sakura's head inside one of the cupboards and loud clinking noises was made. In the light of the kitchen the blond saw that there was something fastened at Sakura's hip. She recognised it as a scabbard, a black and sleek scabbard containing an old katana.

"What's _that_?" Ino wrinkled her nose and pointed to the sword. Sakura flinched and turned towards Ino with two ceramic cups in her hand and closing the cupboard with the other.

"Oh, this? It's... just a sword I bought a few weeks ago." Sakura explained sheepishly and gently grazed the exquisite sword-hilt seemingly unconsciously with her fingers.

"That's one ugly katana. I didn't know you had an interest in sword fighting, forehea- fartface." Ino stated and went to the fridge to ravage Sakura's alcohol stash. She cracked her knuckles in preparation.

"I guess I've just taken a liking to it. Swords are handy." Sakura shrugged her shoulders as she put down the cups on the floor and sat down with her legs crossed. "I'm sorry, but I don't have any tables or chairs yet. We'll just have to sit on the floor. I think I have a few pillows somewhere..."

Ino found a large saké bottle with a squeal of delight and forgot all about that unbecoming katana thingy. This bottle would definitely do for the night, she thought happily.

"It's a gift from Tsunade." Sakura explained as she eyed the blond when she poured the cups up to the edge. With a graceful movement, Ino picked the cup up without spilling a single drop. She saw amazement show in the Haruno's eyes when she sipped from the cup. God, this is some strong stuff, Ino thought as she gulped the alcohol down.

"Seems like you're used to this kind of stuff." The pinkette giggled and tried to pick up the cup without spilling. She didn't succeed, as saké spilled slightly over the cup's edge when she brought it to her mouth with a lot of effort. It was then that Ino was reminded of the weights on the Haruno's wrists and ankles.

"It takes practice, my dear fartface. Some sunny day you will learn." Ino cheered and squinted her eyes as she held her own cup gallantly. The Haruno balanced her own cup in her hands, trying not to spill some more.

"You're just fifteen, Ino. You shouldn't know how to drink." Sakura scoffed as she drank from the cup. Her cheeks flushed immediately as the pinkette noted how strong the alcohol was but she didn't cough; Ino was silently proud of her.

"Don't tell me this is the first time you're drinking?" Ino almost shrieked as she realised, and dramatically brought her hand over her heart as if in shock.

"Shut up, Ino-pig." Sakura grumbled as she took another sip from her cup.

"Fartface."

"You're childish."

"And you have a fartface, so we're even." Ino pointed out and changed her position to lie down on the floor on her stomach with the help of a pillow Sakura had produced from one of the many boxes. It was way more comfortable.

"How does that even make any sense?" Sakura laughed and sipped some more of the saké. It seemed like the Haruno had come to like the burning sensation of the strong saké, and Ino grinned.

"What doesn't make sense is your face. What have you been doing lately? Or maybe I should rephrase since I know of that little threesome you have going on, _who_ have you been doing?" Ino smirked as the pink haired girl sputtered saké on the floor.

"Ino! I haven't been 'doing' anyone!" Sakura growled, wiping her mouth with a faint blush on her cheeks. _Adorable_, Ino thought smugly.

"I know. I just wanted to see your reaction. Wait, are those scars?" Ino's attention got caught as Sakura's sweater had slid down her arm and in the process revealing a few burn marks and bandages. There were about three half moon shaped pink scars visible on the side of her arms, not covered by the bandages. Ino reached out to poke on one of them. Sakura didn't flinch.

"They suit you." She stated as she slid back on the soft pillow.

"That is completely not something I expected coming from your mouth." Sakura stared at Ino as if she was an entirely different person and she slid the sweater up on her shoulders.

"I myself would never leave scars on my own perfect skin, but somehow, they suit you. They give you more of a presence, I think." Ino only grinned and sipped from her cup. It was getting easier and easier to consume the strong saké.

"Thank you, I guess." Sakura said with a smile, as if looking at Ino in a new light.

"Oh shut it." Ino wailed. "No sentimental stuff, thank you very much. It's so out of character it's disgusting, fartface. Or maybe it's scarface now?" Ino rolled away on the floor to avoid a pillow flung at her.

"So, how's it going with those wrist-ankle weights? Heard about your procession through town in a rather unladylike fashion a couple of weeks ago. I hope crawling isn't a new habit of yours." Ino asked and rolled back onto her claimed pillow, with glinting cerulean eyes. Sakura smiled widely and sipped some more from her cup. It seemed like the cup was now forever glued to the pinkette's hands. Ino wondered if she should be worried or not.

"Well, three days ago I raced with Lee and I succeeded in keeping up with him, finally. He's going to train me seriously now, together with Gai-sensei who said it would be more youthful with two teachers. They really make time for me outside of their missions, and I'm so damn glad that they're sacrificing their time to help me get stronger. We changed the weights to heavier ones today so that's why I've been working and training in my apartment. I can't really move far yet." She pointed to the black sleek weights on her wrists. Ino couldn't really imagine that they were _that_ heavy.

"I can see that." Ino muttered as she took in the medical scrolls covering the floor, jutsu scrolls and other scrolls she didn't want to know what they were about. There were other weights as well on the floor, really heavy looking ugly ones, and different instructions on large papers of katas to perform. A few books on sword fighting lay in one looming pile at the corner of the kitchen room.

"You really take this whole thing seriously, don't you?" Ino muttered softly.

"Yeah." Sakura's green eyes glittered and Ino simply saw how much the girl was enjoying the harsh training.

"You're insane, you know that? Off-the-grids insane." Ino smirked and played with her blond hair, swirling it around her finger. The pinkette only nodded at this and continued to drink.

"You had guests over today?" Ino looked up at the three used cups on the counter which she just noticed. Sakura looked at the cups and grimaced.

"Yeah, that pestering Hyuuga boy and that lazy-ass Nara decided on a whim to come by. We played shogi for an hour or so, until I had enough of their bickering and kicked them out." Sakura wheezed but her voice suggested gentle feelings rather than irritation.

"So you have time for those asscracks but not me? Double standards, double standards I tell you!" Ino flung her pillow at Sakura who only swayed with her head to avoid the pillow which smashed the wall behind her in a flurry of white feathers.

"I'm not very good at taking initiatives to meet up with people. But I'm sorry, Ino-pig, if I hurt your feelings. Please accept my humble apology." Sakura bowed deeply with her head, her pink shiny hair falling gently over her shoulder in the process. Ino scowled as she saw a sarcastic grin displayed but hidden underneath the curtain of pastel hair.

"Pah, you didn't 'hurt my feelings'! Just get your shit together and come visit me at the hospital sometimes, and not only when you have been setting off bombs on yourself. I call for a meeting every once a week. _At least_. And that's final."

The Haruno grinned as she looked down at her former rival who was sprawled on her kitchen floor, with her blond head supported by her hands, elbows on the pillow.

"I promise."

"Good. Now that we've cleared that mess, we need to get on to the next subject."

"Which is?"

"Your ex-teammates. I know you don't want to talk about it because it's painful, but you need to get that shit out." Ino said, her voice suddenly soothingly warm even though she cussed. Sakura frowned and looked down on her hands.

"What do you want to bring up? That Naruto is out on an adventure with the pervert Jiraya? That Sasuke-kun is brooding and getting stronger in a dark place god-knows-where with that slithering snake pedophile Orochimaru? That they left me?" Sakura asked with emotions overflowing in her voice and she gritted her teeth.

"Yeah. Exactly about that. That blond idiot and that wrecked handsome manpain." Ino quirked and only looked at Sakura who didn't say anything more than that.

"You miss them, don't you?" Ino didn't need an answer as Sakura's eyes filled with tears which streamed silently down her cheeks in currents. She didn't wail or snivel or anything, with a cold face she only let the salty tears run their course. Ino got up and hugged the pinkette who pried her head into the blond's shoulder. Ino felt how her violet top got soaked in tears. She actually didn't care.

"Hush, don't cry."

A moment passed, then a croaky muffled voice was heard from the depths of Ino's top.

"I'm not crying. I'm leaking."

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hello!

I wrote this chapter solely because of my reviewers. I was supposed to study my ass off today, but I just couldn't stop thinking about the reviews I received and I just had to do another chapter today. So I dedicate this chapter to my lovely reviewers. And fudge you, university exams. Fudge you very much.

Answers to a few reviewer's adorable questions:  
\- I'm still not sure who I am going to pair off Sakura with. The candidates are still many, but you might convince me for one of your own choices if you give me the right feel with a little description.

\- The two idiots (the foxy boy and mr. manpain) is to show up later! They're not ready yet though. Naruto is after all gone for about two and a half years I think from the time Sakura was accepted as an apprentice of Tsunade, so at that time they will appear. Some more characters will appear at that time as well which you must have noticed are missing, so don't give up your hopes!

\- To **LadyofReincarnation**: Wow, I mean, just wow. I don't know how to express my gratitude with words only. But I'll try. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You're the kind of reviewer that makes me want to think it's worth spending hours after hours on my ramblings of a fanfiction. And I don't care that much about recognition of my work, as long as people like you review and make me feel like a god of fanfiction. But recognition wouldn't hurt, really. Haha. As humble as I am.

Till next time! Be awesome out there you guys, (and tell me what you think)!

xx fascalia


	4. One Thousand Men

**Transition**

Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.  
/Non-Canon, Sakura-centric

Chapter 4

Through the Eyes of a Lovestruck Spandex Boy, the Nosey and the Unknown Librarian

* * *

_The Lovestruck Spandex Boy Rock Lee_

It was early morning and the Forest of Death had never been as lush and full of life. Lee sprinted up a tree and got to the top of it, swaying on a small branch. It was one of the higher trees in the deadly forest so he had a wonderful view of Konohagakure village, the sky above was clearly blue and the sun peeked up from the mountains far away. The warm breeze caressed his cheek and his hair was ruffled by the soft wind. This will be a good day for training, Lee thought as he closed his eyes and let the morning light warmth fall on his muscled form.

"Lee! Get down here." A loud voice was carried to his ears by the wind and he smiled as he jumped out into thin air, went spiralling down into the depths of the forest down below and landed hard on the ground, making dust seethe out from underneath the sole of his feet.

"Are you ready for the race, my dear flower bud?" He cheered as he took in the view of his student. She stood with quivering legs in front of him, sweat glistening on her forehead and veins pumping visibly on her strained arms. She held her arms above her head, balancing the large moss covered mountain rock on her hands.

"Are you serious, Lee?" She asked through her teeth, eyes shining verdant in the morning sunlight.

"Why, yes!" He clapped his hands as he felt the energy in his body make him jump around. Sakura wheezed, but he saw that she had a lot of strength left in her body. He wanted to test her limits, so he needed to do this. She still wore the heavy weights, the same he wore, and now the extra weight of the mountain rock made her feet sink into the ground.

"Let's go!" He shouted and set off into the forest. He heard a heavy huff behind him and the cracking noise of the ground splitting underneath her feet as she followed him with the rock above her head. A few miles later of running with cussing and wheezing coming from the medic, Lee looked over his shoulder only to see a huge hissing green snake, the size of a house, slither behind Sakura through the canopy.

"Look out! He yelled and was prepared to attack the snake who had its yellow predatory eyes set on Sakura's running form. The pinkette looked back and saw the snake open its wide jaws to show impressive rows and rows of sharp teeth, dripping with poison. Lee was on his way to kick the snake away into eternity, but he was too late. Sakura cussed loudly and settled her feet hard into the ground, arched her back and then threw the mountain rock hard into the huge snake, which made it break through trees after trees away by the force of it. Shattering sounds of wood and the ugly snap of the huge snake's spinal cord was loudly heard during its journey through splitting trees. The snake finally lay in a slumped form, the rock having dug its way into the body of it, having crushed the hard skin and its intestines flooded out on the forest floor.

Lee could only watch when Sakura calmly walked up to the unmoving snake a few yards away, through the chaos and splinters of broken trees, walked up to it and determined it was dead. She huffed and looked at the snake's teeth still intact, drops of its watery clear poison made its way on the rows of teeth. The Haruno produced a test stick and a small plastic container from her thigh pocket and went up to the snake's jaws, standing almost inside its huge mouth. She took a sample of the poison from its glands and carefully poured the dangerous liquid into the plastic container. Satisfied with the result, she shoved the medical instruments back into her thigh pocket and made her way back to the gory mess left of the huge snake. The exhausted pinkette grunted as she picked up the bloodied boulder and shoved it up over her head.

"Hate snakes. But they do have useful poisons." She said under her breath and sturdily walked up to stand beside him, the huge mountain boulder looming over Lee, creating a large shadow to engulf him, hiding the spandex boy from the sun. A questioning look was seen on her creamy complexion, as if asking why he had stopped. Lee didn't say anything, he just started running again. As if away from something.

A few hours later he looked back once again at Sakura, who had diligently been following him until this point; and she was on the verge of breaking now. But she continued, sweat streaming down her legs and arms and it looked like she had taken a bath. He was actually quite surprised that she hadn't given up yet. What he remembered from the Sakura of the genin days, the she then would have quit after the first ten minutes or so. But they had been youthfully and constantly running for hours on end now.

Suddenly, he heard a yelp and then a loud crashing noise and with his instincts, he jumped up far into the air to avoid the mountain rock rolling fast underneath him only to crash into a tree a bit ahead. As he landed besides the crumpled form of the fallen pinkette, he saw bleeding and inflamed blisters on her hands and her eyes were half way open and glassy as she lay on her back, breathing for the life of it. Her red top was drenched in sweat.

"Should we stop and rest for a bit, flower bud?" Lee suggested since he recognised exhaustion and overexertion when he saw it. Maybe it was obvious to others, but he had almost always continued even when he was exhausted to the point of vomiting because of it.

"No."

It was all she said as she stubbornly sat up, waggled up to the mountain rock and with a shout of '_shannaro_' shoved it up into the air on her bleeding hands. Her hands shook with strain, but she didn't waver, and held the rock up above her pink head. Wine coloured liquid streamed down her arms from the blood of the snake and from the blood of her blisters.

"Let's go." She grunted and started jogging away into the forest, almost falling again, but then she didn't and continued forward. Lee sat for a second completely speechless, but sat up straight and followed her with a loud declaration of his never ending love for her and joined her in the quest for strength.

* * *

_The Nosey Akamaru_

He recognised the scent and sniffed in the air, all waggling tail and perked ears. He used to love that scent since it always reminded him of spring, that season when the weather warmed and he got to run in the fields and train with Master. But lately, the scent of spring had changed. He decided to investigate on that strange human who had changed its scent, so he sprang from his position underneath the table with a little howl. Master didn't seem to care but he acknowledged that Akamaru was about to take a stroll, but then Master sat back on a chair and howled in human with a man opposite of him. The man smelled like burnt oak and wet grass. Akamaru liked the man, but didn't want to interrupt their conversation with a jump-roll-and-lick manoeuvre. So he went on an adventure in the streets, following the changed scent of spring.

He saw a flurry of that strange hair a block away, and he shouted in a greeting. The human turned around and seemed surprised, having shopping bags in each hand. The human's azure eyes locked on his and he jumped at her so she fell down to the ground, since he had grown a lot bigger now, and she let go of her bags with a squeal. She produced a sound from the depths of her stomach as he had his paws on her chest, it was called laughter. Her hands stroked his fur and he noticed they were bandaged. Then she spoke human.

"Oh, Akamaru! Get off!"

He recognised his own name happily as the human laughed even more and licked her cheek in a friendly greeting, then the human stopped laughing. It tasted like cherry blossom and honey but with a hint of soap and salty waters. He decided her taste hadn't changed at least. But when he sniffed her further when they were so close, he noticed it. _A stench_.

He sprang back from her, circled her and looked warily at the human. The scent was dark, it was _not good, not good_. It reeked of metallic red stains, of ripped rotting flesh, of crushed maggots, of innards on the ground. A stench he hadn't sniffed before in his whole life. He whimpered and growled. The human seemed surprised and got up from the dusty ground, but then she looked down at her hip as if she knew what he had reacted to with a pained glint in her azure eyes. She had a long, black and thin weapon of a kind strapped at her hip.

He sniffed again and determined most of the stench came from the long, sleek weapon. It reeked of murder. _But not all of that smell came from the object_. He noted that blended in the cherry blossom scent which originated from her own body, there was something dark as well. A certain frosty coldness, it smelled like sharp icicles on a dark winter night. It was so well hidden he wouldn't have noticed it on the street. He growled again and showed his teeth in defiance to her change, why had she changed?, as he indignantly ran away from her and swiftly avoided the humans in his fast movements through the bustling street.

He ran to his Master. His Master never smelled like he could kill him.

* * *

_The Unknown Librarian of the Hokage's Secret Files Senju Kitsune_

That girl just seemed to devour information. Like it was actual food and she had been starving for years, she hungrily scanned through the old papers at the oakwood table in the middle of the library. It was interesting to see, since Kitsune thought she herself had been a special case of a book worm. But this girl was just like her, except for the outrageous hair colour perhaps. She was hard working and cared for the books and scrolls in the same way Kitsune did. Information and history was all important aspects of humanity, and the past needed to be handed down, to not repeat past mistakes and look brightly into the future. She seemed to share her mind in this.

One time she had found the girl too close to one of the restricted areas of the small library and she had scolded her harshly, almost threatened her that she might not be allowed inside again. The girl had apologised for wandering thoughtlessly and promised to never do it again, but Kitsune had noted a light of interest in the girl's eyes. She had been just two steps away from the automatic transportation seal that went to the ANBU headquarters archives, which was activated when one touched a certain black and small book which lay in a hidden bookshelf. This transportation seal existed to ease the information exchange between the two libraries, made for the use to the personal librarians of the Hokage and the personal archive-responsible person of the ANBU leader. The Hokage seemed to have forgotten all about Kitsune sometimes, so she wondered slightly if she even remembered the transportation jutsu.

The Secret Library at the Hokage Tower was Kitsune's own property and for generations her ancestors had protected it, filed and archived everything for the current Hokage's personal literature. The Library contained mostly medical scrolls nowadays, scrolls the Godaime shoved inside and never went back to read. There were stacks of older scrolls from former Hokage's as well, but those belonged in the restricted areas. But Tsunade's apprentice handled the medical scrolls gently and read every single one of them. She mostly visited during the night, saying she couldn't sleep. Kitsune had her living quarters next to the library room so she always helped the girl inside and made tea for them. She got used to having the pink haired hard working girl there and she came to trust her. So when Sakura stumbled inside when Kitsune was filing old works of Hashirama, swiftly swiping conservation oil over the old papers, she let the girl help her. The writings of Hashirama were beautiful and it happened often times that they discussed his philosophy and thoughts on the world. Kitsune came then to know that the girl was intellectual as well, not just a book worm.

The librarian hadn't noticed she was lonely until that day the pinkette barged in to her library, all sweaty and searching for a certain medical scroll to give the Hokage on her orders. The Godaime had apparently given the secret location of the library to her apprentice. Kitsune came to be fond of the Haruno and trusted her with all of her heart. The librarian showed the knowledge hungry pinkette some old scripts of deceased Hokages and other political leaders. Sakura gulped the information down and Kitsune could almost see how the girl would always remember the inked words. But after a while, she started to see it and wonder why the girl always came at night.

Kitsune now knew that the pinkette suffered from severe sleep deprivation, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything. The pride of a medic, she thought, would be to never suffer from disease or illnesses, so she didn't question the girl's condition. Kitsune wondered silently if the Godaime knew of this.

This night, however, the girl hadn't come. Kitsune thought that she heard a knock on her bedroom door, but when she went to check there was none there. Kitsune grumpily went into the library as well with her large key and the chakra enhanced password. Kitsune shivered, it was cold. There was none inside the library and she double checked the most secret files, they were untouched. As she went back and locked the door, she wondered if the girl had finally been able to sleep, and so the librarian strolled back to her own dreams. What she didn't see was the glowing light coming from the automatic transportation jutsu at the hidden bookshelf and the slightly moved black book.

* * *

_The Shy Beauty Hyuuga Hinata_

Her eyes were tired, as if she had acquired the knowledge of the world.

"G-good afternoon, Sakura-san. Have you been training?" She nodded with her head in a formal greeting. Sakura flinched, stopped walking and looked at the Hyuuga heiress in front of her, seemingly coming back to reality.

"Oh... Good afternoon, Hinata-san. No... I was just at the Hokage's Library, reading some medical scrolls. What are you up to?" She asked as she gathered her now quite long pink hair in a pony tail at the top of her head, quite like the style the Yamanaka girl had.  
"N-nothing at the moment. D-d you happen to have some time on your hands, perhaps?"  
"Yes? Two hours or so, then I'm meeting up with Team Gai for a multiple training session."  
"Eh, uhm. M-maybe... You'd like to have some coffee with me?"  
"Ah. That sounds lovely." The pinkette smiled but her eyes were distant. As if she had learned of something she couldn't take her mind off. They went to a coffee shop on the main street, a cosy little shop hidden from the street view by a large oak tree. The coffee shop, which was called 'Black Gold', was not very well known but Hinata knew they brewed the best coffee in Konohagakure. When they had each bought their coffee they settled outside on the stools, underneath the canopy of the oak tree. The sun shone gently on the tree, making shafts of light stream through the canopy to play with the shadows on the ground.

"How are you, Sakura-san?" Hinata tried, seeing as the Haruno's eyes had started to grow a disturbing light, like a smouldering fire had started somewhere in there. Hinata wondered why she was so angry. All hell broke loose in Sakura's verdant eyes.  
"Fine.", Sakura said and her smile didn't reach her eyes, "How are you?"  
"R-really, Sakura-san. M-maybe I can be of s-some help." Hinata mumbled and blushed.

"Oh. You Hyuuga people can see through anyone, I guess. Like clear glass." Sakura chuckled. "But no, I'm afraid you can't be much of assistance in this. I'm very... sad, and very, very angry about something I just learned today. I feel like setting fire to the village at the same time as I feel like I want to go into hibernation for a thousand years, to hide from this fucked up world." Sakura sneered into her coffee cup, something suddenly glistening in the corner of her eye. Hinata felt something clench her heart.

"I-I'm assuming you won't t-tell me this recently learned knowledge. And please don't set fire to the village, i-it would be most unnecessary. B-but can I still, perhaps, b-be of some aid? Y-you are Naruto's teammates after all, I want to help you." Hinata tried again, and this time Sakura looked at the Hyuuga heiress with warmth, and not the burning kind.

"Ah, I see. Well, maybe you can, actually. If you really want to." Sakura said, her eyes now glassy and murderous at the same time. Hinata wondered if she had made the right choice to ask the pinkette if she wanted help.

"I need to vent my anger. If I don't do it before the training session with Team Gai, I'm sure I'll be too hotheaded to fight anyone decently. They'd laugh me off." She said, cracking her fist. Loudly.

"N-naruto-kun is always hotheaded and strong."

"Yeah, but Naruto is Naruto. An idiot who can survive anything. I need to be calm. I can't fight if I'm too angry or under emotional distress." Sakura seethed, and Hinata saw those eyes burn again and a vein throb on her slightly large forehead. Hinata couldn't get that cold feeling she got from Sakura away from her stomach, like an ice block it settled there. Maybe she wanted Sakura to vent her anger just as much as the pinkette wanted to. It seemed like she had been suppressing her anger for far too long, and this thing she learned today apparently made it to the boiling point.

"I-I know a good place to vent anger." Hinata confessed as she drank the last of her coffee.

"Really? Where?" Sakura sniffed, frowning. The Hyuuga heiress saw how hard the pinkette clenched her own fist that she wondered when the skin would break from her nails digging deep into her palm.

"T-there's a large field owned by my clan a couple of m-minutes away. It's mostly used for t-training and it gets destroyed all the time, so y-you can hit anything there as much as you want. I don't think any clansmen are supposed to t-train there today..."  
"Let's go." Sakura growled and got up fast from her chair, but it seemed like she realised something. "Thank you, Hinata. I can't thank you enough for this." And she smiled. It was so genuine and out of place on Sakura's face that Hinata flushed. Hinata hadn't known Sakura could smile like that, with only warmth in her eyes. The Hyuuga girl, as she rose from the stool, noted that Sakura hadn't touched her coffee.

They sprinted on the roof tops, Hinata leading the way, and a few minutes later they had gone through the gates to the Hyuuga mansion, ran past it and a mile or so away was the field. Sakura seemed to almost flinch when she saw the wide landscape unfold in front of her. Hinata wondered what had made her scared of fields and open landscapes; they were so peaceful and beautiful, she thought. Sakura went there unwillingly and stood still in the middle of a flat part of the field, and unstrapped her black scabbard from her hip and laid the katana gently a few meters away. She then closed her eyes.

"I'm doing offence. Please, attack me." She told the Hyuuga through her teeth. Hinata had a bit of an arsenal of weapons in a scroll she had taken with her from the Hyuuga mansion, inspired by that girl Tenten's style, so she unsealed it. Twenty shuriken came into existence on the ground and Hinata picked one up.

"Don't hold back, Hinata-san. Whatever you do, don't hold back." Sakura said, her eyes still closed. Hinata activated her own Byakugan. She wouldn't let the pinkette down.

"You need to open your eyes, Sakura-san." Hinata called as she released the first five shuriken at the same time, running all the while in a circle around Sakura. With but one kunai she somehow produced in a second, in a blurry she hit every shuriken hard into the ground. Her eyes still closed. With the force of her hit, the shurikens buried into the ground until only the tip of them were visible in a circle around her. It was eerily similar to the Gentle Fist.

Hinata's eyes widened slightly. She knew that the pinkette had taken on Lee's training but she hadn't expected the girl to actually grow this strong. Hinata stopped running and slowed down, to stand in front of Sakura. This wouldn't do.

"Sakura-san. I think it's better if you hit something with all of your power instead of offence training. That way you can drain your anger and your strength." This sentence, and Hinata was surprised herself that she hadn't stuttered, made Sakura finally open her eyes and Hinata saw that the shuriken had not been even close to appeasing Sakura's anger. The pinkette nodded and looked around her.

"Can I hit the ground?" She asked, still gritting her teeth. Burning eyes. "I haven't really tried out a real punch since I started training with Lee."

"Hit it as m-much a-as you want, Sakura-san." Hinata accepted and smiled shyly.

"I think you need to step back, Hinata-san. A mile or so, just to be sure." Sakura's eyes were burning so strong now that Hinata thought she'd get a burn mark if she was too close to the pinkette. To run a mile away to avoid the reverberations of the hit was ridiculous, but Hinata didn't dare question the Haruno.

"U-uhm. Okay. Give it your all, S-sakura-san."

A mile away proved to not be far enough.

* * *

_The Head Hyuuga Hiashi_

Hiashi was not often surprised, but today he had been baffled.

"The destruction of the training field? By one punch to the ground?" He asked again, he needed to confirm, the assistant from the branch house paled as he repeated the information. He had actually heard it correctly. In shambles, only rocks and ruins they said, as if an earthquake had ravaged the field. How could it be an earthquake when he had seen his daughter and a pink haired girl run to the field, emanating a very fiery chakra, saying they were to practice drills? His otherwise dormant interest in other matters than those of the Hyuuga clan perked. The pink haired girl, was it?

* * *

_The Senbon Guy Shiranui Genma_

The girl was a genius in a pink haired disguise. The last three missions he had been on two-man missions with her and he had heard of her fast climb through the mission ranks. He had been interested in what way she proved to be useful. And he knew that she must have been underestimated so many times because of her hair colour, he saw it in her eyes. The first mission they had together was to gather information in Wood Country. Her henge had been perfect; a blond haired civilian girl who knew nothing of the outside world. She acted just like the description he had given her and she had even outshone his own act as her protective brother.

The B-class mission had gone smooth and they had gathered the information they needed at bars and hotels. Whispers of a new leader in Wood. They sent the report to the Godaime and started to travel back to Konohagakure. But they had been attacked. The law enforcement shinobi of Wood had apparently recognised the senbon Genma always had in his mouth and attacked them on the road in the forest, on orders of the uprising leader who apparently wanted to keep his political standing a secret to other countries. Genma was fast to send his senbon flying, taking care of every single law enforcer without killing them.

When he turned back to see the Haruno standing behind him, wielding her humming sword, her face was almost disappointed. He left it at that, not really wondering why it was so. He only silently praised her ability to fuse her chakra into the weapon.

The second mission had gone without trouble and they conversed through the entire trip, and he somehow got to know the girl. She wanted to prove herself it seemed, since she requested of him to stand back if they were attacked again. He had told her he couldn't promise anything.

The third mission had gotten out of hand, but had been successful. It had been her first A-class mission. They were supposed to assassinate an uprising leader near the borders of Tea on request of the Tea Daimyo. They had successfully snuck into the house through a window, come into his room without trouble and when the Haruno was about to inject a needle into the leader with a poison, from a green mamba snake she had told him, they were found out. A guard had just happened to peek inside the room where the leader was asleep and had shouted in alarm for back up. The Haruno had been so fast, too fast, to draw her katana and slice the throat of the leader. He died in silence and a blood gurgling ugly noise. Genma had sprung out of the room only to meet several guards coming his way. In their movements he saw they were all trained shinobi, and had probably gone rogue.

In a pink flash, she was past him, slicing her way through the corridor. There were no screams. She clawed her way through, but it was ever so elegant in a way it almost seemed like she was dancing in splatters of blood, to the last one man standing who was trembling at the end of the corridor. The man had screamed something before she beheaded him in one swift movement and Genma thought the words had been 'white-eyed devil'. But he was still in shock, so maybe he had been wrong. The girl was on another level, definitely jounin if not more. Why hadn't she taken the test yet? He wondered silently as he walked up to her, to tell her they needed to get a move on before more guards arrived, and he heard a soft whisper come from her lips. It was like frost.

"Twenty one."

* * *

_The Powerful Alcoholic Senju Tsunade_

"Danzou will be the fucking death of me, I swear." She mumbled in a scowl and sipped a bit of her hidden saké bottle. The alcohol made its way to her stomach and it warmed her insides, making her slightly forget the whole ordeal of the ANBU and Root and that Danzou-shithead. He was too harsh and unyielding and dangerous and worked too much in the shadows.

Tsunade had just found out that the Root division had tortured a missing nin from Sunagakure for information regarding the political climate and if there was any threatening whispers directed at Konohagakure, as well as the location of his fellow missing nin from Suna that he had formed a team with. The missing nin from Suna died while being tortured. Tsunade's frown deepened. The missing nin's body was requested from the Council of Suna to be sent back, since the missing nin's family apparently still cared for a funeral of their son even if he had gone rogue. She suggested that they shouldn't hold an open coffin ceremony.

The Council of Suna and the Kazekage didn't take this turn of events lightly - there would be some repercussions. She had just recently, through long and unforgiving meetings with powerful and irritating people, formed some kind of friendship pact with Suna, but this situation would shake the foundations of that already quivering agreement. Tsunade scowled and stole another sip from the smuggled delicious bottle of forgiveness liquid. Shizune hadn't found this one bottle yet, and if the Hokage were to decide, it would stay that way.

"Tsunade-sama?" Without a knock, Sakura strolled inside the Hokage's office as if she lived there. The weights on her apprentice's wrists and ankles seemingly didn't bother her anymore, as her steps were light.

"Pinky. This isn't a good time." The Hokage muttered in a greeting, fast to hide the bottle.

"Oh, you see, I have devised a little plan you might take an interest in. Do you wish to hear it?" Sakura smiled slightly, almost eerily so. Tsunade looked suspiciously at her apprentice, stubbornly hiding the saké bottle behind her back.

"I won't take the saké from you, Tsunade-sama. Will you just hear me out?"

"What is it?" Tsunade asked as she safely tucked out the saké bottle for a little sip, still frowning but she was interested in what her apprentice had planned.

Sakura smiled coldly then, but this time it almost seemed wicked. And then the pinkette told the Godaime of her plan and Tsunade's heart froze.

* * *

_The Prodigy Hyuuga Neji and The Cloud Watching Boy Nara Shikamaru_

They sat together at the Nara compound's veranda one sunny morning, drinking tea and playing chess. Sakura and Shikamaru was deep into the game while the Hyuuga sat besides them, reading a book. It was very silent except for the occasional chirping of birds.

"I can see you're sleeping better, Sakura." Shikamaru noted and broke the comfortable silence with one raised eye brow as he moved a chess piece. The score between the two was 40-42 now, to Sakura's favour. She was winning and he didn't like it.

"Yeah. I've somehow gotten used to it. But there's been one change lately in the dream sequences. Maybe it's because I'm sleeping for a longer time now." The pinkette confessed as she observed the chess board.

"Oh? And what is that?" The Hyuuga questioned as he turned a page in the book, which was about reincarnated gods and goddesses lore.

"I remember when I die more clearly, each time. Before, it was always in a blur of pain and agony and I always thought I died in the battlefield, but now... I think she has tried to prevent me from remembering this. But I do recall everything now. Of her memories."

"So?" Shikamaru asked and ruffled his hair, which was for once let down and fell in brown cascades down to his collarbone, as he took in Sakura's recent move with a wrinkle of his nose.

"It's the same scenario, when I got punished for not sacrificing a division as a Strategy Commander a few weeks ago, when they hammer spikes into my body with candles on top, they saw my limbs off and sets me on fire. But these last nights I remember the place I am in, a dark room with candles in circles around me. I'm fastened to a wooden table with chains and there are many blank faced men and women scattering around me, all wearing ceremonial clothes. I realised it was a ritual of some sort. And when I'm burning as they... place the torch at my severed feet, I can feel my flesh peel off and I'm numbing, there's a man besides me - and I recognised him."

She drew a deep breath and stared at the chess board, having the full attention of both of the men besides her. Neji saw that there was something off with the kunoichi lately, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

"It was Izanagi. He was mumbling something in a language I didn't recognise and were making seals with his hands. He wore a ceremonial white kimono. And he held a glowing katana over my burning chest and brought it down with a whisper. That's when I die from a bleeding heart and I hear him say '_It is fate if we are to meet again as the form of war, Izanami._' And then I wake up."

"That might have been the reincarnation ritual of the katana; and the fusion of Izanami and the sword." Neji said and realised it was true.

"I know." Sakura said and drank some more tea. It was very bitter, but it seemed like she enjoyed it.

"So what can we do about it now, since we know?" The Nara asked, looking up to the sky. The clouds drifted slowly in the blue sky, taking their time to move forward.  
"Not much. I still have the contract of blood, binding me to her." She sipped her tea with closed eyes. Neji and Shikamaru exchanged a glance; both understanding.

"Sakura. What exactly does the contract say?" Hyuuga asked the pinkette, putting the book down on the table.

"You don't need to know."  
"We do need to know, Sakura. To be able to help you in this mess. Even though it's tiresome. But you need to understand that we are here for you. We are the only ones who knows about Izanami." Shikamaru said, squinting his eyes at her petite form.

Sakura looked up from the board game and met his eyes. She sighed and frowned, as if considering something. She regarded her two companions and in that moment, they both noticed the struggle between trust and discomfort in her eyes. But she decided and unwavering green eyes locked theirs, as if hypnotising them into a trancelike state. Decided they were worthy of knowing.

"I am to take the lives of one thousand men." She let go of the sentence as if it had been weighing down on her like a boulder. "When I kill the last man, I am _free_. She said she will never visit me in my dreams again. Never whisper again. Never call for blood. She said that if I did this task, I will fulfil a promise. And if don't fulfil it within the next three years, I will die. She will make me slit my own throat with the katana. And then she will destroy Konohagakure."

"One _thousand_ men?" Shikamaru sputtered, his teacup falling and hitting the table, spilling his tea all over the chess board. The hot liquid ran in currents around the pieces.  
"In_ three_ _years_?" Neji blanched and hit his fist against the table in rage. It was not normal for him to display his anger physically, but this was not a normal situation. This was beyond normal.

"And you have been keeping this from us this whole time, Sakura? Oh, god." Shikamaru shivered, anger culminating in his eyes. _That demon. That demon_.  
"Sakura, how many men have you even killed so far?" The Hyuuga seemed to have calmed down and tried to assess the situation in a somewhat cold fashion.  
"Twenty one." She said, her eyes never lowering or backing down, always looking up. The two men both gasped. That was more than both of their kills counted together.

"I've been assigned to a lot of missions lately; so I have an excuse." She explained, drinking from her tea. Her fingers were eerily steady, holding the tea cup.

"Did you count in those five missing nin you... eliminated, on the Tajima-mission?" Shikamaru asked as he pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes squeezed shut. A growing headache, apparently, which he now so often had.

"No, those didn't count since I was under Izanami-sama's control. I need to kill them myself, when I'm aware of what I'm doing." Her voice was so cold it almost made the two men shiver, as if a winter breeze had blown through the core of their bones.

"Do you understand how many lives you need to take?" Shikamaru whispered almost inaudibly.

"Yes. I have 988 men left to rip away from their families, their friends and their dreams. Of course I understand the situation I am in!" She growled, visibly losing her temper, eyes flaring verdant. Shikamaru and Neji didn't blame her; that amount of people she needed to assassinate was a larger number than any shinobi in Konohagakure village had ever taken. This was going to take a toll on her mind, obviously.

"I know where I need to go. Where I have to go." Sakura said in a low voice. And it dawned on the Hyuuga like lightning; she was going to try for being a executioner. It wasn't illogical, the executioners were mostly medics and worked together with the T&amp;I department. That way, she would be able to maybe fulfil the contract in three years.

"No. That work- it won't do you any good." Shikamaru said, realising the same thing Neji had.

"Huh? You already know?" Sakura's green eyes were surprised. But when she studied her fellow companions' faces she sighed in relief. "Ah. You don't know." She said and huffed, moved a piece on the chess board. The Nara regarded her and moved another piece on the board. He was near winning the game now.

"It's not executioner work you're going to do?" Neji asked, frowning.  
"Perhaps, perhaps not."

"You're making this very difficult for us, Sakura." The Nara complained and stretched with a grunt, folding his hands behind his head.  
"I know, I'm sorry. But I can't let you guys in on this one." The pinkette smiled sadly and moved the last chess piece.

"Damnit, Sakura!" Shikamaru scowled, if it was because of Sakura's secrecy or that she had won this time too, Neji didn't know.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hey guys!  
One very perceptive reviewer commented on the Izanami and Izanagi lore and oh my, I mixed up their genders. Hehe. So the sword's name is actually Izanami, not Izanagi. The beautiful man in the tea house was named Izanagi, in last chapter's dream sequence.

I'm sorry for having this chapter a little shorter than usual, but it was kinda hard writing since there were so many different scenarios I had in mind and so little words. Still, I hope you like it. It's moving a bit forward now, isn't it? I hope my elusiveness isn't too stupid.

Tell me what you think!

xx fascalia


	5. Inferno

**Transition**

Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.  
/Non-Canon, Sakura-centric

Chapter 5

Through the Eyes of a Powerful Alcoholic, The Prodigy and a Man Without a Name

* * *

_The Powerful Alcoholic Senju Tsunade_

Tsunade still couldn't believe what her apprentice had told her two days ago. That plan was perfect to the core of it, even though it didn't really favour the keeping of the girl's life. But the information Sakura had gained and the paper copies she had brought which proved them to be true, since Tsunade knew the signature of Danzō, the Council members and Sarutobi's own, and she just couldn't see their humanity anymore. Tsunade didn't know what to make of it. She felt her anger directed at Danzō grow a thousand times over and this information proved to her that he wasn't just a bastard with a stick up his ass, he was a sick bastard with a powerful and influential stick up his ass.

Tsunade understood somewhat that he in a sense had protected Konoha; the question was if it had been the right way to approach the problem and the uprising. Tsunade understood as well that Sakura had somehow acquired highly classified papers and she guessed they were copies from the ANBU headquarter's archives, though the Godaime had no idea how that pinkette had gotten in there. The mysteries about that girl...

She needed to digest this information. And in what better way than with saké? She tucked out the hidden saké bottle from underneath a loose wooden plank on the floor and at that very moment Shizune came walking in through the door. Tsunade's eyes widened as she had the bottle at her mouth. She saw how Shizune's eyes darkened.

"Tsunade-sama. How many times have I told you not to drink while in the Hokage Tower?"

"Uhm, about 329 times. I believe. Not that I'm counting or anything." Tsunade muttered and painfully gave the bottle to her oldest apprentice, who took it with a glint of bitterness. "I really need that one later though." She added and the black haired kunoichi frowned.

"Did something happen?" Shizune asked as she put a stack of papers on the Hokage's desk, joining the other five towering paper piles. Tsunade growled.  
"Yes, something happened. And I need to think."  
"That's a surprise." Shizune said with a grin as she avoided a medical scroll flung at her head with trained movements. Shizune was too used to Tsunade's angry outbursts and violent flinging of things in the near vicinity, the Hokage thought with amusement. The best part about Shizune was that she never asked the Hokage what was on her mind; if Tsunade wanted to tell her, she would. If she didn't, Shizune shouldn't ask.

"You know what. I'll file these papers and you go have a nice little chat with Kameosa-san." Her apprentice said with a smile and ushered the Hokage up from her seat, so she stumbled up from her sitting position.

"Kameosa? Oh, Shizune. You don't know how much I appreciate this." Tsunade exclaimed and grinned, taking the offered saké bottle back to her safe hands. She tucked it close to her large chest.

"Kameosa is a haunted saké jar according to ancient lore and superstition. Because of your ethereal guidance in life, I see every saké jar as a Kameosa." Shizune remarked as she sat down in her teacher's seat, cracking her stiff back loudly.

"Thank you, Shizune. Have in mind that because of me you're the assistant of the Hokage as well. I'm going to have an intimate conversation with Kameosa now. See you tomorrow."  
"Yes, Tsunade-sama. Have fun - and try that thing called 'thinking'."  
"I'm starting to wonder if you're a devil in an angel's disguise or just plainly a sarcastic pig."  
"Bye-bye now."

Shizune slid into the chair's comforts and started right away on the papers. Tsunade huffed and smiled as she went back to her empty apartment. What would she do without her oldest apprentice?

And Kameosa. Never forget Kameosa.

* * *

_The Cloud Watching Boy Nara Shikamaru_

"You and I both know that this cannot continue." Shikamaru said, his posture slack but his black eyes were piercing. The Hyuuga boy nodded slightly in agreement. They sat in Shikamaru's large living room, but they were alone. Heaps of books about old cursed swords were spread on the table in front of them. Neji had found that several cursed swords would be cleansed in either nightly full moon fires or in blessed rosemary leaves prayed to by a Shinto priest. They had been discussing the issue all day, going back and forth, trying to find loopholes in the contract Izanami had made with Sakura. They had found none and saw the only solution laid in front of their eyes.

"We burn it." The Hyuuga said, determination visible in his white eyes. His hand went to his hair, flinging some coffee coloured strands behind his ear. Shikamaru was silent for a few moments.

"Do you think Sakura will concede?" He questioned, cracking his vertebrae with a light snapping sound. Neji's shoulders tensed a little at this.  
"No. That is why we take it from her, without her knowledge." The Hyuuga stated and clenched his fist.

"Oh, I see. She won't know what happened. She will be free."  
"Precisely. The sooner, the better. I believe we should do it tonight, since it's the last day of the full moon."

"I agree."

"She can't kill a thousand men only to appease Izanami's hunger. She won't. I won't let her bow down to some bloodthirsty sword demon." The Hyuuga hissed.

"I know already. _We_ won't let her." The lazy boy mumbled and he stood up from the floor.

The Hyuuga followed his example and they went out into the night, not seeing the last page of an open book flap open because of the wind. The last page told of never being in contact with the swords of Gods, since it meant the end of all.

They hopped on the rooftops of Konoha village, coming to a stop right above Sakura's apartment. Shikamaru sneaked in through the open window, ever so silently, and he noticed that Sakura wasn't there since there was no chakra presence in the flat. Shikamaru thought she might be at the Library of the Tower on one of her nightly visits to Kitsune. _Lucky_, Shikamaru thought as he found the cursed katana in the corner of her room. At first he hesitated. But he knew the scabbard was filled to the brink of restraining seals, so he produced the chakra enhanced gloves and picked up the katana. It was so heavy he almost stumbled. He couldn't believe Sakura could swing it around so easily...

He felt the chakra move around inside the scabbard, humming with smoky charcoal like power. It was like holding a restrained but ferocious predator animal. He was fast to jump out the window and up to the roof. The Hyuuga only glanced at the sword and shivered. Shikamaru frowned at the sword in his hands, the Hyuuga actually _shivered_; which meant that he saw that the chakra was moving inside the scabbard.

"I don't want to drag this out." Shikamaru whispered as they flew over the roof tops, his hands clenched the katana worriedly.

"We'll be at the mountain soon." The Hyuuga assured the Nara boy, not looking at the sword.

"You don't want to hold it for a few seconds? I think I'm going to puke."  
"I-I'm afraid I can't. All I see is the smoke chakra reaching for me. I'm... I'm sorry, Shikamaru. These are times when I wish I could deactivate my own eyes."  
"Oh." Shikamaru answered, it was the first time he had heard the proud Hyuuga boy actually stutter. It astonished him.

"Don't go all Hinata on me, old friend." Shikamaru tried to tease, but it just came out in a croaky voice. Even so, the Hyuuga smirked with strained eyes.

They arrived minutes later on top of the Hokage mountain; the moon shone the most clearly at the top. Shikamaru was fast to put the cursed sword down on the pyre they had prepared beforehand. Neji directly lit the fire with a torch and poured alcohol over it. The fire took a long time to start, but then it found the alcohol and with a spark, a blazing fire took hold of the pyre. The sword was settled in the middle of the small inferno. Shikamaru and Neji stood in silence and watched the cursed katana burn. The scabbard started to melt, smouldering in the heat. Shikamaru exchanged a glance with Neji; the blade itself was the same as before. The hilt as well, it was left unharmed. The only part of the sword that burned away was the protective seals inside the scabbard and the scabbard itself. The blazing fire produced a large geyser into the sky of thick, grey smoke swirl away into the night, covering the white full moon.

"What is going on?" Neji was puzzled. The sword should start melting by now, Shikamaru noted. Why wouldn't it? Shikamaru's heart clenched, and fear gripped his stomach likened to the feeling of ice-made butterflies fluttering about inside him. With razor sharp edges on their wings.

"It should be cleansed. It should _melt_." Shikamaru frowned as he said the words and shivered. What was happening?

Suddenly, a scream broke through the sparkling fire and the silence of the night. Shikamaru felt the hairs on his neck stand on end. It was one of the most painful screams he had ever heard. He was fast to turn his head to the side, to see what creature could produce such hurting vocal sounds. A woman staggered uphill in the green terrain, fell to the ground but got up just as fast, wailing like there was no tomorrow as she walked up to them, then past them towards the fire. He saw the stream of her tears in the moon light.

"Sakura?" Shikamaru couldn't believe his eyes. How had she found them? Why was she screaming like she was dying? Neji was frozen at his side. Like he had just understood something. The Haruno stood in front of the fire and screamed her lungs out, hulking and sobbing at the same time. She turned around, the fire's light played on her anguished expression and Shikamaru saw blood trickle out of her nose. What was happening?

"_We_... we are bound. _She is a _part_ of me_." She wheezed and sputtered blood on the ground, eyes glittering _white_ with pain, they were _white_, and then she walked into the fire. Neji gasped and Shikamaru felt his heart stop beating. The pinkette walked into the inferno like it didn't touch her and went to the katana, and screeched in a heart wrenching way as she grabbed the hilt and Shikamaru heard a sickly sizzling sound when she made skin contact with the sword. But Sakura didn't drop the katana, she gripped the hilt hard, turned around and walked out of the fire.

Shikamaru couldn't believe what he was witnessing. Sakura was unharmed from the inferno, yet she was still crying, now sobbing soundlessly and her nose was still bleeding. He saw the katana smoulder in her hand and he could see how it burned the flesh on her hand. Like a thin liquid film, green chakra covered her whole body and he realised she had let chakra flow from her every pore in a water like state to suppress the fire. If it was conscious or not, it was still marvellous.

Shikamaru made himself walk. _Move_. Then he ran up to her, held her close in an embrace which she didn't return. She was hot, like a fever ravaged her body.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Sakura. I'm sorry." He mumbled into her hair. Her eyes were empty and white, the tears had dried on her cheek and she looked at him as if she didn't recognise him. The pain had made her numb.

"Wha-what have you done? Take the katana away!" Neji blurted as he hurried to her side and tried to lodge the katana from her hand. It didn't budge. Shikamaru tried to help, but the sword wouldn't fall from her grip. They tried to bend her fingers but it didn't work. It was stuck. The burn marks continued to dangerously rip at her skin, sizzling and smouldering. As if it was meant as a reminder to never to do anything like this again. Like it was a warning of some sort and that scared him.

"What in the world is going on?" Shikamaru whispered as his eyes glazed.

"_Don't ever try this petty trick again. Or I will gouge out your eyes and cut out your heart._"

Sakura's voice made them stop trying to take the katana away from her grip. They looked up at her and the moon's light fell on her face and Shikamaru didn't recognise the expression as that of Sakura's own. Her facial features were older, more mature, more cruel, more dark. Her eyes were plain white now, the same hue as the full moon and she looked at the two male shinobi with disgust. Neji sniffed in fear as he realised who it was that was actually speaking through the Haruno's body.

"Izanami." He breathed and Shikamaru fell down on the ground, his eyes never leaving her standing form as all of his muscles failed him. Neji's hands went limp to his side as he stood in front of the white eyes devil.

"_When I burn, she burns. You fools._" Izanami hissed through Sakura's mouth.

Then in the gust of the wind, the harsh expression disappeared from her face and the Haruno fell. Shikamaru had regained enough of his composure in time to catch the kunoichi as he scrambled to his feet. The Hyuuga looked with unseeing eyes into the fire.

"What have we done...?" Neji whispered. Shikamaru scowled.

"We need to get to Konoha General. I'll take Sakura there, you call for Tsunade. Hyuuga Neji, _move now_!" Shikamaru almost roared as he lifted the unconscious kunoichi in his arms. It was surprising how light she was, he absentmindedly thought. Neji jerked back and looked at Shikamaru, then at Sakura's slumped petite form in his arms, still holding the cursed sword in her grip. Even when unconscious, she gripped the katana.

"Yes." He stated and Neji was back and Shikamaru could breath again, as he ran away into the night with the girl in his arms. Neji leapt off the mountain into thin air, towards Senju Tsunade's residence. He would be fine, Shikamaru told himself. Tried to convince himself. They left the fire to die out.

"I've come to an insight. You're not troublesome anymore, Sakura." He whispered into her pink, fluffy hair as he ran. It smelled like flowers and sweat and burnt hair and salty tears. "You are a complete pain in the ass. You pink haired banshee."

* * *

_The Prodigy Hyuuga Neji_

He held his head in his hands, elbows on his knees as he was sitting down on a hospital chair. Tsunade had rushed to their aid and had tried to bend the katana from the girl's fingers, but nothing had happened. The Godaime had healed best she could around the hilt in Sakura's right hand, the flesh that had been burnt was healed swiftly. She stopped the inflammation, but the hilt of the katana was still there. The Godaime had healed the internal damage as well and she had been quite puzzled; since the damage to the girl's insides had been that of a fire victim. When Tsunade was finished the wounds had been healed to function normally and they all waited for the Haruno girl to wake up.

But Sakura was unconscious for a whole day, and the Godaime had bitterly told them that she had slipped into a coma. Shikamaru had told the Godaime the story about the sword when she had asked them, however - he had not told her the whole truth. Tsunade now knew that Shikamaru and Neji had tried to burn the cursed sword but Sakura had taken it from the fire, saying it didn't work. And then she had passed out from the pain. The Godaime believed the story but she had had a frown on her face. She had ordered them not to try it again, since it seemed that Sakura liked her sword.

Neji couldn't believe it all had gone so wrong. She was in a coma. It was supposed to have been swift, it was supposed to have freed Sakura from the demon sword. How could it have turned out like this? Neji was sure he had scanned every book, every scroll there was about demon possessed swords. He had memorised every word. The katana should have been cleansed. Sakura shouldn't have felt that the katana was burning, she shouldn't have been set on fire on the inside. What kind of bond did they have? What kind of bond let the sword have an emotional connection to its contractor? It was so wrong, everything was just so wrong.

Shikamaru was sleeping on the opposite side of the room, in a chair. It looked uncomfortable, but the intelligent successor of the Nara Clan snored. Loudly. Neji frowned and his gaze wandered to the hospital bed in the middle of the room. She seemed so peaceful, he noted. Even with the humming machines next to her, the respiratory mask placed over her mouth, the beeping sounds of the machine showing the rate of her heart beat. Her hair fell softly around her head, spreading around the pillow. The katana was placed besides her, wired with blankets to not let her hurt herself if she awoke. Her creamy skin shone with a light sheen of sweat on her bare arms and she just seemed so at peace with herself. Neji found himself wondering if she was dreaming. Then he was reminded of what her dreams consisted of and flinched. How foolish was he? Izanami was probably punishing her in her dreams. 'Training' her in that godforsaken battlefield with blank faced soldiers. Neji couldn't hate himself more in that moment.

A knock was heard from the door and Neji looked up. The Godaime peeked inside and scowled as she saw the prodigy was still awake.

"You, young man, need to sleep. It has been two days already. I'm sending you home." The Hokage growled as she stomped up to the prodigy, towering over him with a cocky stance. Her brown eyes glinted with concern.

"No." He promptly told her and crossed his arms defiantly, looking away to the hospital bed. Tsunade's frown deepened.

"Hiashi is here." She told him gently. Neji's head jerked up, eyes startled. In that moment, a man walked inside the hospital bedroom. He had a stern face, and the famous long, dark hair known to the Hyuuga's flowed behind his back, he walked up to the hospital bed with gallant steps. Not even glancing at Neji.

"So this is the girl who destroyed our training field." The Head of the Hyuuga Clan murmured as he took in her peaceful features. Then the patriarch turned his head towards Neji, making shivers of anger and fear go down Neji's spine as he patiently waited for the scolding. He felt how Hiashi's cold, marble white eyes bore a hole through his head.

"Stay here if you must. But a Hyuuga takes care of ones health, so I order you to sleep. If you will, then sleep like the Nara." Hiashi ordered the prodigy, then swiftly left the room, only leaving silence and a speechless Neji behind. Tsunade almost chuckled, but only waved at the prodigy.

"I will seriously put you on sleeping meds if you don't comply with your Clan Head's order." She sniffed and then strolled away. Neji noticed the slight smell of alcohol coming off the Hokage as she left him in the fluorescent light of the hospital room. It seemed like he wasn't the only one who had taken a toll at the pink haired girl's condition.

The next day and the day after, there was no change. He couldn't stay forever at the hospital, so he took up a few missions to pass time. The C-rank missions were boring and maybe he had been a little bit too violent against that rapist who he had been requested to apprehend in Tea Country. That man could no longer rape again, Neji thought sternly as he handed him in to the law enforcement in the little village, meeting the requester at the same time. It was a woman, accompanied with her daughter. When the woman saw the blood on the rapist's pants she let tears slide down her face quietly. Then she went up to Neji, and she kissed his cheek. There was no need for words. She had handed him more than necessary in the payment, and she had seemed poor from the start. Neji couldn't help but see the empty eyes of the woman's daughter. She was only thirteen, he heard.

Silently, he slipped an inconspicuous letter containing the double amount of money she had paid a few hours later. In the letter was a will from a deceased faraway relative to the woman and her family, saying they needed the money more than any other relative. It was of course something Neji had come up with in a moment of thinking, but it was worth it. When he hid to see their expressions when they found the letter, the daughter's smile was overwhelming. The mother seemed to not understand the amount of money in her hands. He left it at that and went back to Konoha. He felt the sudden need to go to the hospital.

One week - seven days - 168 hours from the day of the fire, she awakened. It was a long time since Neji had felt that kind of happiness, and he saw the same emotion reflected in Shikamaru's eyes. Ino cried and cried as she came to the hospital, hugging her best friend until the latter couldn't breath. Lee couldn't stop snivelling at her bedside. Everyone was happy, but Neji saw it. Maybe it was because of his perceptive eyes, maybe it was a trait special to the Hyuuga's, maybe it was just his unique way of noticing things none else did. She had changed again. When everyone had come to cheer on Sakura and later left because she still needed to rest, he found himself alone with her. And then her facade slipped off. Her happy grin was replaced with a stern line. Her glittering verdant eyes were replaced with sapphire-like, diamond hardness. They hadn't talked about the fire; it was a silent agreement between the three that they would never attempt anything like that again.

"What happened in your dreams, Sakura?" He dared ask as he sat next to her in a hospital chair.

"Very little, and very much." She answered as she looked at the katana stuck in her hand with wondering eyes. Neji watched in fascination as she spread her fingers from her grip easily and placed Izanami on her lap carefully.

"How-"  
"So none would deliberately take her away from me." Sakura cut him off short sentence and he felt his ears flush. He couldn't meet her gaze. Those diamond hard eyes.

"This looks nice." Sakura investigated her hand. A large pink and reddish scar, a burn mark, was horizontally engraved into the palm of her right hand. It was a hideous scar, but Sakura looked at it like it was a piece of jewellery. Suddenly she wrinkled her nose. Neji's head jerked up.

"Oh." Was all she said, then it seemed she tried again with something. Nothing happened.

"What is it?" He inquired. He wasn't sure he liked her expression.  
"I can't... can't produce healing chakra with my scarred hand." She blurted and frowned again. Neji's eyes widened. Uncalled for, she suddenly burst out laughing. The Hyuuga prodigy was perplexed, yet again, by the pink haired girl. The Haruno tried to breath but she just laughed, a tingling musical laughter was produced from the depths of her stomach.

"With my left hand, I can heal. With my right hand, I can kill." Sakura raised her left hand into the air. "The hand of life and...", she raised her right hand as well, "...The hand of death." She held her hands in front of her face, studying them with a grin on her face. Neji didn't understand her. What had happened during that week of sleep? What exactly had that demon done to her?

Sakura was suddenly watching him, with those diamond hard sapphire eyes, as if she had read his mind.

"I have died over a thousand times in my dreams this past week. I came to be the leading Captain Commander of the army in the battlefield. Last night, we won the war. That is why she let me come back. That is why she let me go."

Her voice was so raspy and devoid of emotion Neji twitched. Her pink hair had grown so long it stretched past her collarbones, her face had changed into that of a mature woman. She had almost regal features, a narrow nose and high cheek bones. She had this air of royalty and cold, hard brilliance. She looked different. He could actually picture her wearing a harness, he could picture her roaring orders to an army, he could picture her as a Captain Commander.

"I see. I am happy you did." He said with a pained look on his face. Change is not always a good thing, but it might be unavoidable. It might be necessary, he thought.

"I have enjoyed your company for these past months, Neji. Unfortunately, I will be on a lot of missions from now on. All you need to know is that I have come to appreciate our friendship deeply." Sakura smiled. This time she smiled with those hard diamond eyes, not that fake grin she had worn before, but she smiled with sapphires in her eyes. And it was such a knowing smile, so old and he didn't know diamonds could produce warmth.

"What are you saying, Sakura?" He asked, fidgeting in his seat. He didn't like where this was going, but he had to ask.

"For some months ahead, I won't have the time to meet you and Shika much." She explained, as if to a child. He didn't enjoy that condescending tone.

"Will you tell me your real reason, Sakura?" He asked, his opalescent eyes grazing her form.

"Perhaps in due time, Neji." She beamed again and he felt that muscle behind his ribcage protest.

"I am not particularly fond of farewells." The pinkette confessed and looked down at her scarred hand. The pink hair fell in front of her eyes, as if shielding her.

"So please, don't say good bye when you walk away." The Haruno frowned, but quirked her lips into a soft smile. Neji wrinkled his nose as he regarded her with opalescent eyes.

"That was the definition of cliché." He stated and Sakura chuckled, saying 'I know'. It did none the matter make it less true to her.

Neji rose from the chair and looked a long time at the katana. To him, it seemed like Izanami was mocking him; he couldn't touch the demon blade and he couldn't burn it. He shrugged his shoulders, then tilted his head and smirked at the changed girl in the hospital bed.

"Until next time, Sakura."

* * *

_The Powerful Alcoholic Senju Tsunade_

"Now, that we have finished the business of the start of a trust alliance with Sunagakure, _again_, I'm announcing the dismissal of my current apprentice Haruno Sakura." Tsunade declared to the Council members at the meeting table. Some whispers were heard, murmurs amongst the older members.

"May I ask why that is so, Godaime-sama?" One Council member asked, confusion visible in her withered wrinkly features.

"She's always questioning my authority nowadays; saying I'm too 'soft'. She believes that to protect Konoha, more severe punishments needs to be handed out to set examples of disloyalty."

"Questioning authority is never a good thing." The Council woman agreed, nodding. Another Council member at the far end of the long table cleared his throat.

"Why is it that she sees more severe punishments as a way to protect Konoha?" He asked with wrinkled eyes.  
"She says that to set an example, on par to that of missing Konoha nin, the shinobi of our village will look at it and see that there is always consequences to ones actions and that betraying Konohagakure is the equivalent to paying the defection with ones life." Tsunade sighed heavily.

"Was it not her former teammate that abandoned Konoha two years ago? Would she still say the same for him?" A grey haired council member asked the Godaime, raising agreeing murmurs.

"Yes, Uchiha Sasuke did, and she told me once that she can't forgive him no matter what. She thinks his punishment should be public execution in Konoha. Can you believe that girl? She's changed so much since I took her on. I can't handle her anymore." The Godaime huffed exasperatedly.

"I see. That is troublesome. I heard she's accepting A-ranked missions now, even though she's only fifteen." One of the Elders commented, seemingly knowing of the Haruno. Tsunade was a bit perplexed by this, apparently the Haruno had started to make a name for herself.

"Yes, and I know that she has mastered Medical Ninjutsu to a very high level, but she has abandoned it for that cursed sword and the position of a fighter. Such a _fool_." Tsunade spat with disgust. Danzō's eye slid to Tsunade's hunched form and there was a light of interest in his expression. Tsunade silently sang a victory song in her head as she scowled on the outside. One of the Elders coughed and looked at Tsunade with a slight frown.

"Indeed, it is foolish. But I have heard she has come to challenge that kid Rock Lee in the physical department, and her taijutsu skills are exquisite. I also happen to know she has perfect chakra control which is very unusual amongst shinobi. And that sword you were talking about; I saw her on the training grounds three days ago, doing katas with her katana. I couldn't even see her move, but suddenly five iron bars that hung from two trees had been sliced into a hundred parts. The sword seems to fit very well in her hands. She might prove to be very useful for Konoha's benefit." The Elder concluded, then coughed again.

"That might be so. But she's just gotten so cold! So emotionless. I have to dismiss her as my disciple. I can't stand her anymore. She's not the sweet little girl I once knew." Tsunade almost wailed and thumped her fist hard against the table so it shook violently. The Council members shivered almost in unison in awe of her anger.

"Then you should take on someone else. Maybe the daughter of Yamanaka Inoichi? I hear she's gotten promoted to the position of Doctor in Konoha General Hospital." One of the Council members suggested and Tsunade's eyes widened. She hadn't even thought about that, and it was a good idea, but when she was about to answer one dark voice interrupted her.

"What are we to do about Haruno Sakura, then?" Shimura Danzō uttered his first sentence for the whole of that meeting. Eyes went to him and some looked down because of the weight of his authoritative voice.

"I don't care. Send her on missions or something." Tsunade sighed and slumped back into her chair.

"I see." Danzō said, retreating politely. "That will be taken care of."

Tsunade's cheeks almost flustered but she bit it down. The start of Sakura's plan had been set in motion, but Tsunade was not yet sure if she had made the right decision to help her with it.

* * *

_The Man Without a Name_

The man without a name stood at the door leading to a large spacious room in the hidden headquarters below ground. It was the entrance ceremony to be a part of Root; three shinobi Danzō himself had approached and suggested that they were to give their lives to the protection of Konoha. He had approached four, but only three shinobi had conceded to his suggestion. The fourth shinobi no longer breathed, he knew. The man without a name was supposed to act as a guard, as well as a third perspective to the entrance ceremony and lastly to avert any escapees.

The proctor for the ceremony stood in front of the three recruits, donning a white ANBU mask likened to an owl in its painted swirling lines. The owl masked proctor was tall and slender, his clothes grey and black. The three recruits had blank masks covering their features, clothed in black turtle neck tops and beige hakamas. They were allowed no weapons and had been put under chakra restraining seals. He noted that one of them was a woman, which was unusual for a recruit. Danzō must have had a special reason for recruiting that one, the nameless man absentmindedly thought. The two other male recruits were tall and broad shouldered, impressive muscles were seen through the tight fabric of the black top. In their stance, they seemed experienced and collected. Compared to the petite woman who stood rather casually, they towered over her like two giants.

"These three newest recruits has shown to have abundant potential and they have sworn to us that they are all willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater cause of Root. We appreciate your devotion to our section and thank you for joining this ceremonial trial."

The proctor's voice echoed in the large room, leaving silence and low heart beats behind. He knew that behind the see through screens of the opposite side of the room, there was Danzō and several other Root-devoted ANBU captains watching.

"However, only _one_ of you will pass through that door." The owl-masked proctor waved to the door besides the see through screen and then walked out, brushing past the nameless man with a polite nod.

He knew what was going to happen in the next few moments; either they would be baffled as they realised the implication and try to negotiate with the now disappeared proctor... Or they would start about now to kill each other. The nameless man's eyes darted to the three recruits as he heard a snap. What he saw was that the kunoichi had somehow gotten behind one of the recruits, her hands pressed around his head and she had snapped his neck in one swift movement, leaving the man's head lolling for a bit before falling to the ground; he knew that the strength behind the force to snap a neck was not to be taken lightly. When the man slumped to the floor mat, the kunoichi was fast to duck and roll away underneath the high kick aimed at her head from the other male shinobi.

The man without a name watched in what one could almost call interest as the two battled in hand-to-hand combat. The kunoichi seemed to not have any kind of traditional martial arts school behind her attacks; it just seemed primitive and instinctive, every strike and movement and evasive technique. However sloppy it seemed, she was calculated and agile. The male shinobi who was probably a bit older had a distinguished style of wushu, aikido and a certain martial art deriving from Water Country which made him swift as water and every strike as hard as a tsunami's destructive force.

The man landed a strike in the side of the woman and she grunted as she stepped back several feet, he guessed the strike had made disturbing reverberations to her intestines and disrupting the flow of the blood stream in her body. The man saw his opportunity and ran up to her for the finish. The woman wobbled and fell to the ground as he swung at her and then he was suddenly kicked up high in the air with a cough of blood; the kunoichi had pretended to fall, to make him attack mindlessly and victory already in his mind, and had kicked him in the stomach from her lying position on the mat. The nameless man looked on emotionlessly.

The kunoichi jumped up and in a flash, it was fast for a new recruit he admitted, she kicked him down to the mat with the back of her feet while he still was in the air. There was too much strength in her kicks, so when he plummeted down the mat crumpled from the force of it, almost making cracks in the wooden floor underneath the mats. The man coughed blood and the nameless man determined a broken rib must have punctured his lung, or something else inside his stomach must have taken damage. The male recruit tried to move up, but the pain overwhelmed him and he sank down again with a grunt, trying to regulate his breathing. But it was difficult since his mouth was full of blood.

Then, as gracious as a feline, she moved to stand besides his sprawled retching body. She gently put her foot on his heaving throat. And then she crushed it. With a gurgle and blood splatter sound, he died, her foot still engraved in the gory mess left of his throat. The man without a name, being the closest to the scene, heard her say something which was muffled by the mask, but it was still audible enough to make him feel something like coldness graze his skin. But he had heard it and in some way it made him wonder what she counted as he with blank eyes stared at the goose bumps on his arm.

The silence was overwhelming. With a jerk of her foot, she shook it a bit to get away some of the tendons and blood from her shoe. The woman then wandered right to the screen on the opposite side of the room. With every step, there was a little splash sound coming from her right shoe. _Thump, splish, thump, splish._

When she stood right in front of the screen, of which she shouldn't know that Danzō and the captains stood behind since the see through screen was only such from the other side, she could only see a simple beige screen. She bowed down to a sitting position and in doing so she showed submission and respect. She waited. Blood ran in currents down her blank mask.

The sound of clapping hands, applause of some sort, was heard behind the screen. It was a slow clapping, as if dragging it out. The screen was swiftly slid to the right, revealing several men standing stiffly in front of her. The one clapping was a tall white haired ANBU captain, who leaned casually at the doorway.

"Welcome to Root." The white haired ANBU captain said and smirked with empty violet eyes. The nameless man knew him as Fuyu, a man recognised for his bloodlust and overly violent ways with enemies. Danzō stood in the middle, his bandaged head looking down on the kunoichi. The kunoichi's facial expressions was hidden behind the mask as well as her hair. None knew who she was.

The war veteran and leader of Root walked to her submissive form and stood only a feet away from her. She didn't look up from the ground. In a quick movement, he ripped the mask away from her face so it bounced on the floor some meters away, revealing flushed cheeks, luscious lips and verdant adrenaline pumped and pale eyes. The man without a name recognised the adjectives he had used to describe her in his head and supposed most men would call her attractive. Her eyes seemed to almost bore a hole wherever she looked. Compared to his fellow Root members, her face was an open book. Though an open book in another language, and he only knew a few words of that language.

"When the blank mask is removed, your face is no longer expressionless. That is where your fault is."

"I am sorry it is so, sir." She said and looked directly into Danzō's eye, unwavering. The man nodded and produced two pills from his pocket which he held in his left hand in front of her. With a blank stare she took in the weight of those two pills; knowledge visible in her emerald eyes. He almost flinched at this; she just showed too much. As if she was naked, completely bare, she leaked her emotions freely all over her face.

"To show your devotion you will choose one of these pills. If you want to live, choose the red pill. If you are prepared to die, choose the green pill. If none - then leave."

The flushed girl with burning eyes didn't as much as frown when the man uttered the words of her fate, and she stretched out her hand directly as if the answer was obvious. The nameless man watched as she gulped down both of the pills and swallowed hard, gaping her mouth open so Danzō could check she had swallowed. Danzō's eye widened ever so slightly, one wouldn't have noticed it if not perceptive to emotion, as the nameless man was an expert in. He was very able to distinguish the movement of facial muscles, but he could not define the emotion in Danzō's eye.

"Not following orders already, I see. I said to choose one. Why did you take both?" His eye squinted at her, taking in every twitch of her expression. The men behind the screen flinched and some shivered; Danzō was a fearful man. That girl had disobeyed him.

"I want to live so I can die for Konohagakure's sake." She answered simply as she started breathing harder, sweat producing on her forehead. The pills effect seemed to have settled in her system already.

"I see." Danzō said as he walked back to the screen, to every Root member's astonishment in the room, as Danzō turned away from her sweating form. "It would seem that you will be paralysed within a few minutes. The effect of the red pill is deadly but the green pill will heal the damage done to your insides. Probably. You are the first to have chosen both pills, so I am not too sure of the repercussions of your choice. It is yours to deal with. Meet me tomorrow morning in my office at seven o'clock - if you survive the night."

The girl could not answer him as she had gone into seizures, shaking uncontrollably and her eyes rolled back as she fell to the floor with a thump. The man without a name watched the pain convulse in her body and she couldn't scream because the shaking prevented her. Fuyu, the ANBU captain, looked with violet eyed disgust at the kunoichi. He knew that emotion.

"Someone bring her to a bedroom. No medical attention to her is allowed." He said as he flipped a white strand out of his face and turned around to walk out of the ceremony room. The man without a name didn't think, he just walked up to the shaking girl and slung her over his shoulder in one easy movement. He didn't know why he did it, he just acted. The girl shook so violently on his shoulder he had to steady her with his hand. When he did, he felt something slick at her side. Blood ran down his fingers when he pressed her to his shoulder so she wouldn't fall off. That strike the male recruit had done to her side had been much worse than anyone could have imagined, he concluded.

The nameless man walked to a vacant bedroom a few dimly lit corridors away with the convulsing girl on his shoulder, and laid the kunoichi down on the simple bed. The black bandana covering her head strained at her shaking, so he removed it and as he did he was slightly baffled at the colour of her hair, which fell in cascades around her petite face. It was the colour of a pink sunset. He only laid the bandana on the floor and didn't think more of it as he went to the bathroom to wash the blood away on his hands. His eyes seemed to wander back to the kunoichi, whenever he wasn't aware while he washed his hands in cold water. The blood in the wash bin cleared away, only leaving pink trails of water behind on the white porcelain.

He couldn't help himself as he went back to her still shaking form. He reached for her turtle neck top and tucked it up to under her chest, revealing an inflamed and bruised wound oozing blood under her ribs, to the right from her stomach. The bed sheet was soaked in a matter of seconds. He knew that none else had noticed her wound, since she had acted as if she was unhurt and free of wounds. And she had been so casual, so cold and she had bowed down to Danzō - as if that hadn't worsened the blood flow of the wound at her side. He found himself looking for something to stop the red liquid flow, and he took the pillow at her head and ripped the sheet off of it. He bandaged the wound after having poured some alcohol over it so it wouldn't get infected, and when he was finished with the basic treatment he dragged her turtle neck top down over the wound, hiding it.

The girl's eyes were lolling around, sweat pouring down her creamy complexion, her breathing hitched, her teeth clattering - and he knew that there was a certain possibility that she would bite her own tongue off and drown in blood with those seizures. He took and folded her bandana, opened her mouth with little difficulty and stuffed it inside. She bit the bandana so hard in her shaking form, he wondered if she would be able to chew through the fabric material during the night. Blood started to seep out from one of her nostrils, trailing down to the bandana in her mouth. He quickly bound a part of the sheet around her form, fastened her to the bed so she wouldn't hurt herself while shaking. Blood from her ears started to seep down on the mattress. But the nameless man couldn't do more for her and she confused him, so he left her after pouring a glass of water and putting it beside the bed.

Then he disappeared in the dim light of the corridor.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hi guys!

A little darker chapter, this one. I rushed this chapter because I loved to write it, so there might be a ton of spelling mistakes or grammar errors. Please note me if you find any.

What do you guys think; is change a good or bad thing? Or is it more to it than a simple _yes_ or _no_?

xx fascalia


	6. Black Tortoise

**Transition**

Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.  
/Non-Canon, Sakura-centric

Chapter 6

Through the Eyes of a Man of Shadows, a Powerful Alcoholic

and a Merchant

* * *

_The Man of Shadows __Shimura Danzō_

He was almost shocked when he heard a knock on his office door at seven in the morning, but then he quickly gathered the reports he had been reading into a neat pile. The kunoichi staggered inside his office, her hair was ruffled and there was a lot of dried blood on her face; probably coming from her nose, eyes and mouth. He also saw coagulated blood on the inside of her ears. It seemed like she had climbed out of bed without showering since she wore the same clothes she had donned the day before, probably too weakened to be able to do the actions necessary to freshen up. Her bleary, pale green eyes were heavily blood shot and a few droplets of red liquid was still in the corners of her eyes. It made the green colour in her eyes stronger and contrasting even more, making them lush and ever seeing.

"I am sorry for my misshapen appearance, Danzō-sama." She bowed her head weakly and then straightened. Her posture was strong, as if fighting her body's state with her mind and sheer will power.

"It is none the matter. You look livelier than the shinobi who chose the red pill. Sit." He commented, then looked down on her file he had in front of him, as well as her contract. He gave her a pencil which she accepted with shaking fingers as she sat down on the chair in front of his desk.

"You cannot be a part of Root." He said, mayhaps only to see her reaction. Her green eyes discerned him coldly. She didn't protest, she didn't beg for her life, she didn't ask him why.

"I see." She said, and only that. Her strong posture had not changed, even while sitting. Danzō almost smirked, but he didn't, and then locked his eye with hers.

"You cannot be a part of Root because you are not emotionless, as all else of our members are supposed to be. And that is where emotions called determination and devotion is a fact and doesn't exist within Root; but it can be used to Root's advantage in you. That also means you are not to act as the pawn of Root, and you are not yet expendable. Also, you will not receive a cursed seal since the shinobi of ANBU will recognise it and it would be most inconspicuous."

"Yes."

"You are to succeed in the ANBU test qualifications, get appointed ANBU by the Hokage and then you will act as an ANBU operative; I duly believe you will rise in the ranks. The Root-devoted ANBU captains will be our communication. You will give me information of what you have learned on every mission. Missions will be your life now. You are still young, so we will have training sessions here whenever you are not on a mission. Mostly you will have superior Root-members train you, but I might occasionally give you a lesson as well when I see fit. Understood?"

"Yes, Danzō-sama."

"I will appeal to the Hokage to try to make her appoint you as ANBU. I heard that you two had an argument so it might prove to be a difficult task."

"Yes. Our views on how to protect the village was... different." Her blank expression was almost that of a Root member when she talked about the Godaime - expressionless, free of all emotion. This almost intrigued the man of shadows.

"How come?" Danzō inquired, leaning over his desk with his left hand supporting his head.  
"She's too soft." The kunoichi stated, and he noticed that her eyes had stopped bleeding and were plainly blank. Danzō tilted his head a bit, taking in her appearance and words. He didn't say any more and only gave her the contract for her to sign. She did and wrote her signature with trembling hands; seemingly an after effect of the intake of two pills.

"Get rid of the shaking until next time. Dismissed." He commanded and took the paper from her hands as he turned away from her. It was a chakra infused contract which didn't allow her to talk about himself or of Root to others; in case she did, he would know in seconds. In the corner of his eye he saw the kunoichi nod and then she limped out of his office, closing the door gently.

He huffed, since he was alone he allowed himself to do so, and put the contract in an archive file map marked with a pink note. He didn't find her fitting yet, but when she had swallowed both pills only to gain his trust and for the sake of Konohagakure... He wondered if she even feared death. Truly, what fool would swallow two pills given to her, when the origin of those pills were unknown? And all she did was trust the man giving them to her.

But that determination, iron will and devotion; he liked that. She would prove to be a very useful pawn if she could follow his guide lines. However, he had difficulty with the fact that she questioned authority. For the moment he found it a highly positive trait since she reckoned the current Hokage to be at fault; but what if he succeeded in becoming Hokage and she started to question him? He decided that for the moment, she would prove to be useful. But when the time would come, for it _would_ come, for his succession of the Hokage title - he would make sure she swallowed the red pill only.

* * *

_The Abandoned Boy Uchiha Sasuke_

The underground hideout was dark, with not many candles adorning the walls. Orochimaru had an experiment going on with Kabuto, so he had let the Uchiha boy rest at the moment. They had been training constantly for the past week and Sasuke felt how his muscles had been shredded and now was growing even stronger. He had learnt many useful jutsus as well, there amongst a few genjutsus which were easy for him to cast with the sharingan activated. Over all, he was almost content with their training schedules. But he craved more. He needed to be more powerful, more cold, more calculated. To hate his brother even more, to deepen the emotion of revenge in his heart.

He regarded the sharp blade of his recently accepted gift from Orochimaru, balancing it on the tip of his index finger. It was a strange sword which he decided to call Kusanagi. He enjoyed the weight of it in his hands as he let it slide into the palm of his hand and gripped it. When he angled the blade a reflection of his black eyes stared back at him in the dimly lit room. He found not many emotions in those black eyes, but they reminded him.

Reminded him of his past, team seven - a lazy teacher and a blond idiot and an annoying girl. When he remembered those useless teammates he had to close his eyes. They had such preconceived ideas about him. As if he was actually a part of their team; but they had simply been means of him getting stronger, simple stepping stones. They no longer mattered, they never even had. They had turned out to just hold him back and now finally, he could find the strength needed for his revenge. He found no solace in their efforts to bring him back. His place was not in Konoha. His place was nowhere.

His place would have been death, if not on the whim of his brother. He sometimes wondered if his fate as the sole survivor of the massacre had been the better option. The angst still terrorised his dreams, the image of the bodies of his parents lying on the floor so cold, so cold haunted him, always. His brother's eyes blaring red in the moon light. His hands bloodied. That night haunted his nightmares ever so often that he found he almost couldn't remember his mother's smiling face anymore. It had withered away and in its place was her pale blank face and her slumped form.

All he saw nowadays was those cursed red eyes. And he could never look away.

* * *

_The Powerful Alcoholic Senju Tsunade_

"Well, I can't just appoint you ANBU. That would only seem suspicious. You need to prove yourself somehow... What about a S-rank mission?" Tsunade scratched the back of her blond hair, biting her lower lip. The kunoichi sitting in front of her in the Hokage's Office frowned.

"Tsunade-sama. I've only been assigned to one A-class mission, a S-class is..."

"That would make it all the better, wouldn't it? It will be dangerous though. Lots and lots of soldier pills." Tsunade said and then her eyes widened in recollection. "Oh. Hey, you know what I found yesterday? A really old scroll! I'll give it to you. It's an animal summoning scroll, and I know you don't have one! See it as an early birthday gift or something. Found it in that dusty old library the other day. Kitsune said she didn't know what kind of animal summoning it was though. Guess you'll just have to find out."

"Tsunade-sama. I am most grateful." Sakura bowed her head and earned a hard thump on it with Tsunade's fist. Surprised eyes looked up through pink hair, caressing her head gently as she questioned the Hokage.

"Damn, do you have a stick up your ass, girl? Seems like Danzō is rubbing off on you. When we're alone, call me Tsunade. At least you deserve that much." The Godaime scolded the pink haired kunoichi and sniffed.

"Just Tsunade, then. Thank you." Sakura smiled and that matured face of hers almost put the Godaime off. How could a coma induced sleep change a person so much? How could she look like she knew the secrets of the universe? Tsunade recognised eyes like that. She had seen them in Danzō, a war veteran, and she didn't know what to make of it.

"You're welcome, Pinky. So, you're going to take on a solo S-class mission-" Tsunade was cut off short-sentence by the pink haired girl.

"Solo?" She commented, green eyes gleaming. Paling.

"Yes, otherwise you wouldn't stick out! You need to prove yourself. Let the world see you are an excellent shinobi of Konoha. Make missing nin fear you. That way, it'll be less suspicious of me to appoint you ANBU two weeks from now." Tsunade grinned.

"I see your point. I will, Tsunade." Sakura's eyes glinted mischievously and the Godaime rolled her eyes. The Haruno really had changed since the coma.

"Good. Now where did I put Kameosa..." The busty blond mumbled and started searching around on her desk, the papers covered almost all of the space. Sakura sighed with amused eyes grazing the Hokage's form.

"It's in your desk drawer." She pointed out and Tsunade squealed with joy as she found it.

"Ah, there you are my lovely haunted jar of love. So, the S-class mission. I'll talk to the administration and search some piles of requests. I'll call for you tomorrow morning and then you'll be set up with the information detail. Yeah?" Tsunade stated and sipped from the saké bottle. Warmth rushed directly to her cheeks and she squirmed with comfort.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow, Tsunade." Her former apprentice smiled and was about to heave herself up from the chair. The Godaime jerked her head, she recalled her gift, her hands waving around.

"Hup hup-a. Wait, the scroll, the scroll. Oh, found it. Here." Tsunade cheered and gave the puzzled Haruno a withered scroll from the pile of scrolls on her desk. Dust flew everywhere.

"It's ancient. And is that a drawing of a... turtle?" Sakura sneezed as dust came into her nose. Tsunade chuckled in amusement.

"Yes, but the old ones are usually quite powerful. Try to get accustomed to it tonight. Say hello to them. And also, remember this one thing: be extremely polite. The old ones take traditional politeness very seriously. And all that crap."

"I'll keep that in mind. Goodnight!" Sakura smirked and put the ancient scroll in her backpack, then swiftly rose from her chair.

"Sweet dreams, Pinky."

The girl snorted at the Godaime's last sentence and walked out of the office.

* * *

_The Fox Boy Uzumaki Naruto_

They were in a village in the Mist to train Naruto's senses in the fog, but the day had gone by without the Sannin in sight and Naruto having several empty instant noodles at his side. Naruto had stalkingly left the training area in the rocky forest and started to search for his sensei. When he had found him peeking on the women's outdoor baths Naruto had almost imploded. The Sannin had hushed him to not make them seen by the naked women. Naruto shut his mouth unwillingly, but he had heard of the strength of Mizu no Kuni women; they were not to be in contact with. Sensei said it was inspirational research for the next book in his series 'the Nightingale of the Waters'.

Naruto grumpily sat down but couldn't resist a peek at the women. He could use it as research to better improve his Sexy-no-jutsu, he convinced himself. He winced when he thought of how Sakura-chan would react if knew about this; she would most certainly kill him. There were about ten women in the outdoor baths, most wearing robes or towels to hide their treasures. One woman was about to slide into the water and in the process she left the towel at the pool side. Naruto gasped while blushing red. That startled the women in the bath and eyes went to the bush they were hiding in. A few seconds went by, like a ticking bomb.

Chased out of the village with Naruto having one fractured arm and Jiraya having several bruises on his face, they scrambled off to another village four miles away. It was plain luck they hadn't died that day. Naruto saw something pointing out of his sensei's back and when he mentioned it, Jiraya tried to see over his shoulder. Unbelievably enough, a soap was actually stuck in the older man's shoulder blade. Blood flowed freely and Jiraya would have passed out if he hadn't broken into a fit of laughter. Mizu no Kuni women would never be messed with again.

After that Jiraya seemed to have been reminded of his apprentice and started training for real. During one training session in the forest Naruto saw a rabbit near the tree he perched on. The rabbit's innocent and frightened eyes darted around the forest, trying to identify the sound of leaves rustling. Naruto looked at the rabbit with a pained expression. It kind of reminded him of his pink haired teammate. He wondered in silence how she coped in Konoha.

Then Jiraya flung a sizzling blue Rasengan at him and he had no time to ponder further about it and leapt off the tree branch. The tree exploded as the raw force of the Rasengan imploded on it. As Naruto ran away to create a few kagebunshins, he didn't see the rabbit lying crumbled in the splinters of the exploded tree. The innocence and fear was gone from its eyes since it could no longer see the world.

* * *

_The Flourishing Merchant Ukeno Tajima _

He was outside his shop one day, drinking his black coffee in the early morning sun light. It was very still on the streets and Tajima was at peace with himself for a change. It was one of those mornings that told of a wonderful and abundant day, with no mischief and no devil's knocking on doors. He smiled into his coffee cup and took a sip of the black gold, and when he looked up to the street she was there.

The coffee squirted out from his nose.

A sleek weapon hung on her back, it looked like a tanto but he knew it too well to be mistaken; it was a katana. That cursed katana. Her long pink hair swirled away in the wind, leaving her face bare in its creamy skin tone and heart shaped features. Her eyes were unmistakably green and piercing. The black turtle neck top clung to her form tightly, revealing slightly a hour glass figure. The black top left her arms bare and her right arm was bandaged, and the woman's Konoha forehead protector hung from her neck. The black tight pants she wore was adorned with kunai pockets and medical field kit pockets on each thigh. She had a large moss green backpack slung casually over her right shoulder. And she still wore those ridiculous hand cuffs - whichever function they filled they were an abomination to good fashion sense. He coughed up the rest of his coffee.

"Y-you!" He stammered and accusingly looked at the morning sun. Why had it let him think it would actually be a good day?

All he remembered was white eyes and blood of the escort mission day so many weeks ago. The Konohagakure shinobi had left him with all those corpses and he had been awakened by a scavenger bird, pecking at his skin.

He recalled when she had stopped by his shop for the first time. He had sent his guards after her, even without hearing what she had to say. That day she had killed all of the guards he sent after her with her bare hands; crushing their skulls and with a punch to their bodies they collapsed in broken bones and destroyed internal organs. After that, no guard dared listen to his command to continue. That is where the fault lay in hiring mercenaries; if it wasn't worth the money, it wasn't worth doing. That day, all she had asked about was the katana he had lost to them. Izanami, it was called. But Tajima knew nothing of it.

She had then come to him ever so often since, buying weapons, scrolls and medical equipments in his shinobi part of his trade business. He had had to further develop the shinobi section only for her sake, so she wouldn't be displeased with his supplies.

"Hello, Tajima-san. Is that how you greet an old friend?" The woman smirked and eased her way to him, so silently and elegant he almost snorted. She was such a contradicting human being; so beautiful and graceful and yet she was his worst nightmare.

"What do you want, Cherry?" Tajima huffed, his face slightly tinted red. The pink haired devil laughed lightly, tingling softly in his ears. She seemed to have gotten used to his new nickname. The last one he had called her; 'Pink Haired Banshee' had made her eyes pale, almost turning white.

"I'm going on a little mission visit to Snow Country. So I need a snow specialised weapon's arsenal, because some weapons freeze and doesn't function normally in cold weather. And well, I need quite a few other special weapons. I brought a list, just for you." She smiled ever so prettily and showed him glinting sapphire like eyes. He gulped, but then frowned and turned away from her.

"I see. Come then. When was it that you decided for me to be your personal shopping bag again?" Tajima grumbled as he gallantly walked inside his shop, which on the outside sold women's underwear but was in actuality a illegal weapon's shop. It was not one of his more successful businesses since he hadn't started the marketing yet in underground circuits. But none the matter; the pink haired woman was his most regular customer.

"I think it's our anniversary tomorrow, actually. Three months! Oh, can you believe it's been so long." The woman cooed and followed behind him. Tajima sniffed and took a deep breath; he wouldn't let her see his fear. He'd never let her.

When they went past the guards, a few heavily locked metal doors and through chakra enhanced passwords he found himself in the weaponry storage. The pink haired banshee's green eyes grew bigger with anticipation and she looked around for a bit. Then she found a sword on a counter, a sleek and short old sword. Tajima watched her, waiting. The sword she was studying had been in his shop for years, since it was so old none wanted to buy it. It was so withered, yet it had been polished and balms had been carefully inserted into the sword. A few shinobi a hundred years ago had put a little amount of chakra into it; too keep it from rusting and falling apart. Almost none even knew what it was as well, except for him. It was a nihonto from a thousand years ago - he had learned this fact from the ancient swordsman who had sold it to him.

"Oh! Such a cute wakizashi." The pinkette looked lovingly at the sword. She was correct.

Tajima's eyes widened and tried to grasp the fact that she knew what a thousands of years old sword was called. She must be knowledgeable, he mused with a frown. But how?

"How do you know, Cherry? It's thousands of years old. You shouldn't know what it was once called." He commented, watching her reaction warily.

"Oh, is it? I didn't know. I once wielded a wakizashi. It's really convenient to hide in your boot." She cheered and put it back. Tajima frowned again and wondered where else in the world she had gotten her hands on a wakizashi, since they were long gone because of a law against wakizashi a few hundred years ago. They had been banned and destroyed because of the fear for annihilation of the Daimyos; except for this one.

The pink haired banshee seemed to remember why she was there and gave him a quite long paper note with a smirk. He accepted it and started reading.

"This is my shopping list. I need everything to be ready by noon tomorrow." She said and patted his back gently.

Tajima's breath came in short gasps. What-

"W-what are you going to do? This list is... Are you planning on the obliteration of a whole fucking country?" He sputtered.

"Perhaps. Who knows? You know I can't tell you, Tajima honey. Classified and stuff."

"B-but... The sheer amount of paper bombs, heavy explosives, swords, kunais, shields, senbon and a... a sledge hammer? And two battle axes?" Tajima read loudly and whimpered, wrinkling the paper in his hands. She was going to start a war or something and he would be her accomplice in it. He gave a small cry of indignation and waved with his hand helplessly.

"Are you serious, Cherry? You can't start a war on your own. You can't." He wailed and thumped his head against the counter, again and again.  
"A war? Who said I was going to start one?" She grinned and ruffled her long pink hair. Tajima stopped banging his head against the counter since it started to hurt and he looked up at the white eyed devil woman. Her emerald eyes glinted like diamonds in the dim light of the weaponry storage. Lucky for him, they weren't white at the moment. But they were dangerously pale.

"I expect the items to be ready by tomorrow. Do not disappoint me, Tajima-san." Her eyes gleamed and her voice was filled to the brink of ice cold hardness. Tajima couldn't say anything, he couldn't move. The woman started to make her way out of the shop with a waving hand in a farewell and he heard her say 'bye-bye', not looking back. Tajima scrambled after her and when he got out of the women's underwear shop and out on the street, he saw her in a not so far distance. And what he saw made his mouth hang open in a highly unattractive way.

She had summoned a ridiculously big animal. And in a moment, Tajima wondered if they were under attack. But he saw nothing. Who summoned a huge animal just to... _talk_? And she was conversing with the largest tortoise Tajima had ever seen. It was black in its withered strong skin and hard shell, all he saw was the moving back of it, but he could see the old dried blood stains flecking the black shell in patterns. He knew what animal summoning it was and he fell to his knees on the sandy soil of the street in fear and resignation. Why was he even surprised anymore?

That Haruno Sakura had gained the animal summoning _Genbu_, the Fourth King of the North. The one of the most powerful heavenly animals; since Genbu had been a God once. He had been called the Dark Warrior and was known for his warfare, blood thirst and proficiency with handling as well as dealing death.

And in a moment of slight insanity, Tajima thought they made the perfect pair. They maybe even matched each others blood lust, the pink haired woman and the black tortoise of war. He heard the Haruno giggle beautifully at something the large turtle had said as they walked besides each other, and her quick response apparently made the Fourth King Genbu laugh. The turtle's rumbling laugh created vibrations on the ground akin to a light earthquake and Tajima wobbled on his knees.

The merchant stood up and scampered off inside to the safety of his shop. He needed to get going right away; the amount of weapons and the specially ordered sledge hammer and two battle axes would take some time to get his hands on and he would need to call on a few favours. But he would. Because no fate for him would be worse than that of a 'disappointed' pink haired banshee.

The next day he had gathered everything but he was exhausted. He hadn't slept a wink through the entire night and had worked on getting everything in place. The explosives were safely sealed in scrolls and the sledge hammer had just arrived. At noon, a knock was heard on the door to his large office, as he sat gulping his fifteenth cup of coffee behind his office desk. He called for her to come in, and she opened the door and bounced inside, pink hair swirling behind her. The excitement in her eyes were hard to miss.

"Tajima-san! Such a beautiful day today. A perfect day for the trade of swords." She chirped and settled in a chair in front of Tajima's desk. Tajima gulped again and gave her the note of the payment. The pink haired kunoichi glanced at the sum of money and produced a large bag and threw it on the desk. The bag opened itself by the sheer force and spilled golden coins on the table. It was by far enough to cover the expenses of her requested weapons. By far.

"You and I both know that is too much, Cherry." He mumbled as he stared at the golden coins on his desk, glinting in the sunlight from the window.

"You've been very hospitable, so I wanted to give you my thanks. You didn't even wet your pants when you saw Izanami this time!" She cheered, and he gave her a sour look.

"Please don't bring that up again." He coughed and was reminded of his gift.

"We're celebrating our trade companionship anniversary today, Cherry. So I have an anniversary gift for you." Tajima said as he slowly went up to his drawer and started searching. He heard a little delighted gasp from behind him.

"How lovely!" The Haruno chirped and clapped her hands. In a flash, she stood besides him, peeking over his shoulder. He jerked back. Unpredictable banshee, he thought grumpily. Then he found it.

"Here. Yesterday, I saw that you have succeeded in the animal summoning of the black tortoise Genbu, the Dark Warrior. So, since you were able to summon _him_, this might bring you some more delight." Tajima offered the ancient, withered scroll to her expecting hands. None could summon the animal inside the scroll. Most who had tried had died in flames, so none wanted anything to do with it. No matter how hard he had tried to sell it.

Tajima, somehow, knew she would probably be able to summon the heavenly animal. Or if not, she'd die in flames and the problem of a pink haired banshee would be solved. It was just a gut feeling really, that she'd be able to summon it, but he wanted her on his side. If he gave her something of her interest she might not kill him. Even... protect him if needed, perhaps. He hoped.

"A bird? Oh, how interesting!" Sakura gladly accepted the scroll and studied it with piercing green eyes.

"Now, we have finished celebrating. Let's go get some containment scrolls and seal all of this fucking war arsenal." Tajima sniffed and walked elegantly to the storage room, with the pink haired banshee following him.

When they were done, Tajima went to see her off. The streets were quite vacant of people and Tajima was reminded that there was a festival at the center of the town. When the Haruno picked up her backpack, which was full of scrolls, she cracked her joints and drew forth a map. Looking at it for a few seconds, she put it back into her pocket.

"Tajima-san. Thank you for the scroll. I will further study it and summon the birdie later. And here's my anniversary gift, by the way. It was the best I could think of, short notice and all." She reached out her hand and gave him a piece of paper she had produced from her pocket. Tajima took it, read the written words and his eyes bulged, then he smiled and looked up at her. But she was already gone, in the whirl of the wind.

The piece of paper told him that she owed him one favour. Be that as it may as an escort, protection, information gathering or assassination. She would do anything. She might be a pink haired banshee, he thought, but she was also a just girl who didn't like to owe anyone anything. And this time, it proved to be of his advantage. He knew giving the scroll was a good idea.

Tajima then went back to his sleeping quarters and slept for a whole day. This time, he had no nightmares.

* * *

_The Martyr Uchiha Itachi_

The freezing winds and the snow covered grounds did not appeal to him at all. It was a hassle, not that he had a problem sprinting on the snow with chakra enhanced feet to make it solid, but all the same. Snow was annoying. His cloak got caught in the wind and rippled like ocean waves, blurring the image of the red clouds on the black fabric.

"Oi. Itachi, wait." Hoshigaki Kisame called from behind. Itachi turned around with little interest and heard it before he saw what his partner looked at. In an alley of the castle like mansion of the Snow Daimyo, a little girl was battling several guards with one single katana; the clash of swords made the music of death ring in the snow muffled silence. With Itachi's ever seeing eyes he saw dark chakra swirl around the sword, as if it was alive. Itachi was not surprised to see a cursed sword, since Kisame wielded something akin to the one the girl held.

What caught is eyes was the flamboyant hair colour the girl had and her exotic green eyes. She donned a black coat, similar to the one he himself wore, but without the intricate pattern of clouds at the hem. The pink haired girl swirled, evaded, attempted a strike and was successful, then graciously backed away like a feline. The battle was quite elegant, he noted. The girl severed heads after heads, unwavering, swift in her movements. She had some talent, that little one. And strength in those slender arms. The guards roared, pained and furious, and rushed at her all at once. She was agile, so she easily evaded their mindless attacks. At last, she was the only one standing in the alley.

Heads rolled on the ice clad and bloodied ground and the girl huffed in exasperation, then it seemed she counted the bodies with her eyes. As if she was disappointed. Itachi observed for a bit and noticed a quite strong chakra presence sneak up behind the girl. He looked on as the Captain bodyguard of the Snow Daimyo struck at the girl with a huge Nodachi sword. It was a very large taichi and was excessively longer than 150 cm.

It turned into a dance of swords.

The girl was fast enough to meet his blade with her own, but she was forced back a few meters by the sheer force of the bodyguard's sword. In a blur he was fast to counter her next attack which should have cut off his arm. Itachi saw Kisame's murderous killing intent rise, but with a glance Kisame lowered it down to a minimum. The shark man always listened to his expressions, even when he was on the verge.

"Will you dance with me?" Itachi saw the girl mouth these words in a leer, as if she was living for this moment. The Uchiha wondered if she was high on soldier pills.

The petite girl darted forward and kicked off the snowy ground, pirouetting in mid air as she slashed horizontally at her opponent. A thud was heard as the man's head lolled to a stop at his body's feet which then crumpled down in the rain of blood from the severed neck. The Nodachi sword fell to the ground, abandoned.

"That was a short tango." The girl seemed miffed as she regarded the body and then silently bowed her head, as if thanking the still bodies for the fight. As if thanking them for giving their lives to her, as she mumbled a number again. This time he saw that she mouthed 'one hundred and three'. The Uchiha traitor understood what she counted. Endlessly, this hatred, these deaths, what is it worth?, he mused.

Itachi was no longer interested and nodded to the Monster of the Mist who seemed to have his shark-like eyes glued to the girl. And most of all, his eyes followed the katana.

"That girl; I remember her. That's Izanami, right there. She's grown up more than I expected." Kisame's face grimaced into a toothy bloodthirsty grin as he followed after Itachi. Itachi didn't ask. He had no interest in the girl nor the sword, but something nagged in the back of his mind. As if he had seen the same flash of pink somewhere before, years ago.

* * *

_The Man Without a Name_

He disliked the colour of her hair. It was distracting and too out of place. It was the colour of a blush, the colour of cherry blossom flowers. It was a colour he never would have thought a human could possibly grow before he had met her. It was most of all unfitting for a shinobi since most of the time shinobi are supposed to be invisible and not call for attention. Her hair always made people look at her twice.

She was so attention catching in a crowd that anyone could spot her directly, even without trained eyes. It was definitely an unfitting hair colour and he disliked it. That was the logical explanation he found in his head when he noticed that he couldn't stop looking at her. She sat in front of him, waiting for Danzō to call her inside his office for and update and probably her Root guise which she were supposed to use inside Root. The nameless man had been waiting as well in the Root underground headquarters for further instructions.

The kunoichi had recently come back from her first S-class mission and had earned recognition in the grey parts of shinobi society. They called her 'Cherry' in the Bingo Books, because none knew her name. He realised even he didn't know it, since he had never asked her before. She had succeeded in killing the Snow Daimyo, a request from an anonymous powerful nation to Konohagakure village, and she had destroyed the Snow castle to smithereens. Nothing was left of it, apparently. Only bodies. The body count was humongous, since the Snow Daimyo had a lot of money to hire protection from mercenaries and missing nin. And she had killed them all, left none to breath.

Now, she was on the list of possible ANBU recruits the Hokage had. The man without a name had been ordered to spy on the progression of Danzō's plan for the pink haired girl and it seemed to have gone smoothly. The Godaime would probably appoint the girl ANBU within the week.

"Oh, it's you!" Suddenly, a clear voice rang in his ears. He looked up to see her staring at him. His lips twitched and stretched. He had read about smiles, and smiles made other people feel welcome and appreciated. But did she actually recognise him? He had worn a mask that day. Maybe she was actually able to see it in his body language?

"Yes?"

"You're that one, from that day in the trial ceremony room. You... " She trailed off, remembering they had been ordered to not help her in any medical way. Ears were always listening somewhere in the Root headquarters. "Thank you. What's your name?"  
"I have no name." He answered politely, bowing his head slightly with a 'smile' on his lips.

The girl looked baffled for a few moments, then it seemed she was reminded of Root's codex. No name, no emotions; only the mission exists.

"I'm Haruno Sakura. Nice to meet you. For a second time." She grinned and he noticed that her grin was slightly different from his own. He wondered what it was.

"Can I give you a name?" She asked happily, as if naming a pet. The man without a name only stretched the muscles around his mouth into a 'smile', but before he could answer her a voice seared through the humid air of the underground quarters.

"Haruno!" Danzō's dark voice was heard from inside the office. The girl's smile vanished and was replaced by a stern line, her green eyes shot emerald daggers. Such a swift change of expression, he though. It almost fascinated him. She stood and went inside, leaving him on his chair with her name on his mind.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hiya! A little rant, but if you like my story, please read.

Finally, the two loveable idiots made an appearance huh! I found that I have a huge problem writing from their perspectives. A. Huge. Problem. Because whatever I write, it just feels so cliché. Like it's already been written so, so many times. A cheerful but knowing Naruto, the brooding little manpain Sasuke. I don't find it interesting even, to write from their perspectives. Maybe I've just been into so many Sakura-centric fanfics I've kind of forgotten about those two. But I want to write from their perspectives. I just can't- AH. **I need a Beta Reader.** Like, so much. It sucks to do to Beta-less stories. My grammar is chaotic, character development sucks, environmental descriptions are non-existent and I might have missed so many plot holes I feel like turning my bed into an igloo and never coming out.

Either way, I update the chapters regularly. Due to reviews, _my little lovely reviewers I love you furrever and everrr_, I take note of weird stuff that I have written and change it. So I'm sorry, sometimes it's a good idea to reread the story. Like, Sakura's katana is called Izanami. And I erased the fluff between Neji and Sakura in chapter 5 because it was just so uncalled for (Thank you, **UchihaJennifer,** for pointing it out!). I decided then that if there's going to be some lemony-ish stuff later in the story, there is going to be a well developed tale behind it.

And, just please, tell me if Sakura is starting to get on your nerves. I hope she does. She's in the middle of transitioning so she hasn't found herself yet, so it might seem like she has PMS or something due to her mood swings and change of personality. But I promise, soon she will find herself. All in due time.

And I love reviews. Can never say it enough. Reviews helps me as an author and every review is an important aspect of my improvements. I appreciate all kinds of reviews, even those who point out the bad stuff. Cause I need someone to point out the bad stuff.

Love you guys!

xx fascalia


	7. Cherry

**Transition**

Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.  
/Non-Canon, Sakura-centric

Chapter 7

Through the Eyes of a Man of Shadows, a Widow and a Man Who Has a Name

* * *

_The Man of Shadows Shimura Danzō_

She strictly waltzed inside and bowed her head in respect, then sat on the chair facing him behind the office desk when he had nodded his approval. The chair squeaked when she sat down. Her facial expression was nonexistent and he was pleased with it. It seemed like she had practiced to wipe all signs of emotion away from her face.

"I heard about your S-ranked mission in Snow. Well done, Haruno. It might have earned you a place on the ANBU recruit list of the Hokage." He nodded. Her eyes were perplexed for an instant, then it was gone. He recognised she must have been surprised at his praise. Maybe he was himself, he didn't know. He was not one to offer praise to just anyone.

"Thank you, Danzō-sama. It was easier than what I would have believed at first. Explosives are very useful if placed in the right location. Kagebunshins make for easy decoys. There was not much else to it." She explained. He said nothing in return, gathering a few information papers in his hand. Because of her recent success at the S-rank mission, since however much she tried to make it seem easy; he knew it hadn't been. The Snow Daimyo, now dead, had been very paranoid and had the highest security in all the Elemental Nations.

Danzō had had to reevaluated her skills. She was much more cunning and strong than he at first had thought. He had planned this course of action, The Assassination plan of the Last Fan, for a long time and the recent events of her missions had made it clear to him. He would assign her this mission; the executioner of the plan. She was the perfect one for it, in all truth. She had bonds. She had known him once; and that made for sentimental emotions he knew could be beneficial. He then gave her the information papers and she accepted them, eyeing them right away.

"You are to be put up on a team to wipe out Uchiha Sasuke." He said and watched her expression. Nothing changed. So he continued with the information detail.

"There is a Root member that will accompany you under taken disguise. You will try to make him a part of Team Seven, incorporate him into the team dynamics and make other trust him. It is only the early stages of the Assassination plan, so do not expect to be sent to do it right away. Some plans needs time to be useful in the end." His chair creaked when he changed his sitting position slightly. The pink haired girl in front of him took in the information, no change in her facial composure.

"You won't take the next Jounin exams that are coming up in the next month. You are to go as a Chunin - not Jounin, not ANBU. I still require the secrecy about your position. This plan will be taken into action when Uzumaki Naruto comes back to Konoha from his training with the Sannin Jiraya. I believe they are scheduled to be back to the village within a year from now. Tsunade will deploy Hatake Kakashi, your old teacher, to your team as the leader. A Root member will take the place of the Uchiha so it will be a complete team. Then there is a high probability that Tsunade will send you out on a retrieving mission for Uchiha Sasuke; however, you are to kill him and make it seem accidental. The Root member will help if there is a failure - though I'd recommend not to disappoint me. Because of Uchiha Sasuke's eye capability and the strength he possesses I will personally train you during this year to be able to take him on. Do not expect mercy."

The girl's eyes were so cold. He had never expected that. He was, after all, talking about her killing a former teammate. But she didn't even flinch and he found it strange. He needed to evaluate her feelings about the mission; he was not used to the concept but he knew it was dangerous to disregard emotions. They were precarious and unpredictable.

"Haruno. Will you be able to kill him?"

"Yes. If I am strong enough by then." Even her voice was cold, even, calculating. Her eyes grazed him, as if she observed something interesting.

"Why? I know you were infatuated with the Uchiha betrayer." He pointed out, knowing he must have stepped on a fresh wounded part of her heart. Still, she gave nothing away. It almost seemed like she had expected Danzō's question and the knowledge he had of her love for her former teammate.

"A childhood crush on good looks, nothing more nor less. It was shallow, blind and there was no depth to it." She answered with nothing in her voice to give away what she was feeling. Danzō only waited. The Haruno saw it; he wanted her to elaborate on it. She sighed, then met his eye with green burning pupils. The man of shadows was pleased, there it was; emotions. That determination. The exact same steely shade he had seen in her eyes when she had swallowed the green and the red pill.

"A small part of me misses him, obviously. We shared meals together, went on missions together, went to the Academy together. He was a child then, as well was I and there is always a certain innocence in children. But another, larger part of my conscience sighs in relief at his absence. It whispers that he was always holding me back. Always standing in front of me. And there is no question about his obsession over gaining strength for his own selfish causes. He is the core issue of many problems that has risen in Konoha since he left. He trains under the Sannin Orochimaru - a criminal from our village. A criminal who experiments on sickly projects and cares little for moral standards, even from a shinobi perspective. Uchiha Sasuke is a revengeful man who sees nothing past his goals, he disregards Konoha and most of all; he has broken all ties with the village. This means he is prepared to go against Konoha if it is beneficial for him. That concludes in the fact that he might be a threat to our village, so I can easily see the reason behind your order of his execution. Better to quickly obliterate him before he gains even more strength and will be out of our control."

She finished and Danzō found himself impressed. Impressed with her analytical sense to her explanation, her frozen heart, her calculated conclusion of the order and the plan. He was content with her answer since it made sense to him. He himself would never forgive a teammate if the one proved to be a threat to Konoha; he would kill the teammate if needed. She was similar to him in this, it seemed. Konoha's protection and superiority to the other villages would be insured.

"I see." He said and then produced her Root clothing. "Wear these clothes and this mask when you are inside Root. None is to recognise you, so do something about your hair. Only the ANBU captains knows your real identity, as well as the Root member who will join Team Seven."

"Yes, Danzō-sama." The Haruno took a hold of the black clothes and the blank white mask. It was the same mask she had worn on the ceremonial trial day. There was dried blood splatter on it.

"The Root member who will join Team Seven... Is he the one waiting outside?" She pondered, curious eyes following his movements.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"  
"Oh. It might be rude of me to inquire this, but could I possibly suggest a name for him?"  
"That is a strange request. But, yes, you may. What name do you have in mind?"  
"Sai." The Haruno answered and smiled at the man of shadows, then left.

* * *

_The Powerful Alcoholic Senju Tsunade_

A flash of pink in the corner of her peripheral vision gave her the knowledge of her former apprentice presence behind her. Tsunade turned swiftly around to see Sakura walking on the street, towards the library. The pink haired girl had a large backpack slung over her shoulder and her beautiful long hair was set in a low pony tail at her neck. Adorning her now usual attire; a black sleeve-less turtleneck and a pair of black pants, with kunai pockets and med kit pockets, and that strange sword strapped on her back. Her expression was muddled with mixing emotions; regret, hate, spite, pity and longing. Tsunade wondered what had happened, seeing as the girl's eyes were fixed on the ground as she walked, but she could only guess what it was. The Godaime knew that Danzō must have made contact with her briefly after her S-rank mission. She must have been assigned to some mission or other. Whatever it was, Tsunade would find out.

"Oi, Pinky!" Tsunade exclaimed and bounced up to her on the street. The Haruno turned around to look at the Godaime but she gave no answer, nor smile. She didn't even greet her. Glinting, menacing sapphires stared back at her.

"Damn. If looks could kill..." Tsunade frowned and shook her head.  
"I believe there is a certain kind of bird perched on that house." A whisper, so soft in the breeze of the wind, came to her ears and Tsunade might have missed it if she hadn't been perceptive.

Tsunade knew what the girl meant; Root was probably spying on them. They didn't trust the girl yet, so they watched how she interacted with people and what she did on her free time. The Godaime sighed, then clenched her fist. Her brown eyes glistened in a flash. It was _so_ on.

"You! Infuriating girl! Where are your morals?" She screamed and the girl took a step back in surprise. Civilians stopped walking around them, staring at the Hokage's outbreak. Perfect, Tsunade thought.

"You don't know _anything_. Old weak hag!" Sakura hissed loudly through her teeth, then turned around and left, hopping up on the rooftops with angry eyes and a scowl plastered on her face. Civilians on the street were left gaping, eyes bulging. They had seen the Hokage's former apprentice actually scream and call her 'old hag'. The civilians attention were fully on the Godaime, awaiting her reaction. Tsunade almost giggled but she had her act to fulfil, and she needed to meet the civilians expectations. With a roar, Tsunade stomped on the ground in frustration, spreading cracks all over the street for impact. The people fell away in groups, screeching as the cracks developed and looked alarmingly like an earthquake. Tsunade then walked away to the Hokage Tower, knowing that the Haruno were waiting for her there. She almost grinned.

When the Hokage arrived in the Hokage Tower and opened the door to her office, she found that Sakura waited in the corner of her room, already having sealed it for uninvited eyes and ears. Tsunade waddled inside and shut the door to her office, checking the seals one time just to be sure and found them perfect.

"None saw you getting in, I presume?" Tsunade asked the pinkette as she went to slump down into her chair with a loud huff.

"Nope. Nice show you put on, by the way. Cracking the ground was a huge plus." The Haruno grinned, but her eyes were distant, as she sat down on the chair in front of the Hokage.

"It was fun, yeah. Now, tell me. What is it?" Tsunade poked the girl on her forehead, gently. Sakura huffed and then told Tsunade of Danzō's plan, the annihilation of Uchiha Sasuke. Tsunade was baffled; the _audacity_ of that man, she grumbled. But she clapped her hands; since she knew everything now it would be a piece of cake to avoid the confrontation.

"Oh. I'll just make sure that Sai is never admitted on the team and I won't send you on the retrieving mission-"  
"No. I think we should go along with the plan." Sakura said and Tsunade blanched.  
"What?" She sputtered, not quite believing the girl. She couldn't have changed that much, could she? No, it wasn't possible. Tsunade's mind was reeling and Sakura gently tapped the Hokage on her shoulder. Tsunade almost winced. Sakura's eyes were suddenly soothingly gentle and there was a sad smile on her lips.

"I don't want to kill Sasuke. But I have another goal in mind, and that goal would be easier to achieve if we went along with Danzō's plan."  
"What? Girl, are you serious? Going along with his plan? But he said that this Root member Sai would finish the Uchiha if you failed!" Tsunade angrily slammed her hands on her office desk, cracking the furniture in splinters. Haruno didn't bat an eye.

"That won't happen."

"What do you mean? Are you going to kill the Uchiha?"  
"No, as I said before, I do not intend to kill him."

"Then what are you going to do?"  
"Something I should have done a long time ago; follow my goals to their completion. This time it will be different." Tsunade noted a crease of the girl's eye brows, but she didn't frown. Her face was a complex pallet full of contradicting emotions.

"Do I have your trust, Sakura?" The Godaime slid down on her chair, staring into the depths of those sapphire eyes.  
"You, if anyone, have my trust. You are one of few that I would give my life for. You should know that, Tsunade." Sakura declared and her eyes never blinked, not once. "I need your trust in my goals in return."

"What are your goals, Sakura?" Tsunade waved her hands helplessly, getting tired of the girl's secrecy.  
"They are a few. They are laughable, because how I am now - they are impossible. They are ridiculous. And they might never be achieved."

"What are they? I need to know to approve of this, Sakura. I need to know your plans. How can I trust you otherwise?"  
"I see your point. I... I have never shown them to anyone else and I need you to keep them a secret. These goals, this paper..." Sakura produced a crumpled piece of paper from her chest bindings. "This paper... Is a part of me. They matter the most to me. I trust you with a part of my whole being."

Sakura gave the Hokage her paper of impossible goals. Tsunade's eyes blearily looked at the words, then she gasped. Her frown deepened when she read to the last word on the list. The Godaime felt her eyes burn and emotions wash over her.

"I hope that is enough for you."

Tsunade cried silently. She let the tears run down her face and she couldn't remember the last time she had actually cried. Her pity for the girl grew stronger, as well as the astonishment. She had proved to herself that she could grow strong, but she needed more strength for these goals. So this list was the cause of her steely determination, the cause of her climbing the ranks, the cause of her getting submitted to the ANBU, the cause of her plan against Danzō... Everything - because of this piece of paper. Tsunade's breath hitched.

"So these were your goals all along... Oh, Sakura." Tsunade sniffed as the tears dried on her cheek. The Haruno gently took the paper from the Godaime's hands and stuffed it back into her chest binding.

"Now that you know, don't take pity on me. If anyone, I least deserve such. And please, don't discuss the goals with me. Nothing you say can change them."

The Hokage blinked away her tears and tried to focus. Sakura quirked her lip in a slanted smile.

"Have faith in me, Tsunade."

The Haruno girl asked of the Hokage. Tsunade could only nod, feeling her throat swell.

"I will go along with it." Tsunade stated and cleared her throat loudly. She really couldn't believe this girl. She might be even more unpredictable than Naruto.

"Leaving this behind, how is it going with the recruitment to ANBU?" The girl asked, tilting her head in a gleeful way. Tsunade found herself smiling, though it was slightly pained. She had to let that paper go. They were Sakura's goals, and she had to accept that, the Godaime chided herself. Then Tsunade jerked her head back, realising what the girl had asked.

"Oh! Yeah, you're on the list. I'm going to appoint you ANBU tomorrow. Damn, I totally forgot about that." Tsunade chuckled. The pinkette in front of her gleamed and it seemed like suns shone from her eyes. Sparkling.

"Great. When should I come by tomorrow?"  
"Six o'clock in the morning. There'll be a small ceremony. You're to be introduced to the other ANBU members, of course with your face covered. And then I'll give you a mask."  
"Ah. I already have one." Sakura stated. Tsunade raised an eyebrow at this.

"Really? What kind of mask is it? A tiger? A cat? Or maybe a dragon?" Tsunade inquired.

"It's blank." Sakura said calmly. "And I think I'm going to keep it that way."

* * *

_The Cloud Watching Boy Nara Shikamaru_

She never came by to play shogi with him anymore. All he saw of her were on the streets sometimes, always heading somewhere, always greeting quickly and then disappearing in the crowds. She mostly went on missions, and sometimes to go train with that cursed sword. He knew somewhat that she had a goal in mind, probably a plan as well to achieve that goal, which didn't include himself nor the Hyuuga. She had abandoned them, it seemed almost.

And Shikamaru didn't exactly know how to feel about it, he contemplated, as he strolled on the street. He was on his way to practice with his team, early in the morning, since they were supposed to take on a few missions before trying out to become Jounin. He thought it was a drag, but both his father and mother had pushed him to do it. It was expected of him. Somewhere in his mind, he knew but couldn't really acknowledge it, he did it because of that troublesome pink haired woman. If he became Jounin, he might be able to help her. Maybe help her find a loophole around the sword. Find a way to destroy it without destroying her. But maybe it was pointless all the same, he figured, since becoming Jounin only meant an increase in the pay check, and more responsibility, and more difficult missions. Such a hassle.

He didn't see as said woman flashed past him on the roof tops since he was in such deep train of thought. He didn't see her eyes lock on his form, and he didn't see the pained look in her eyes as she continued to run to the ANBU headquarters. He didn't see how much she wanted to tell him everything.

* * *

_The Senbon Guy Shiranui Genma_

They were gathered in a spacious room within the ANBU headquarters and held the ceremony for the newest ANBU recruit. It was a short ceremony but important all the same. The kunoichi bowing in front of the Godaime and the ANBU ceremonial leader was still and awaited the ceremony to start. Even with the blank mask on, he recognised her. Even with that black bandana covering her head and outrageous hair. Even with the ANBU attire. It wasn't that difficult, really, since he had been on a few missions with her. Genma was a special case, he knew, in recognising people without seeing their faces. He always had problems seeing people for who they were in their faces only; according to him, all faces looked the same and there was no difference. There were eyes, mouth, nose and skin. It was all the same. So he had had to recognise movements and smells instead. So to him, he easily recognised her scent, her light steps and that strange katana strapped on her back.

Genma was surprised she had become ANBU so soon, he would have at least given her another year before she was qualified enough. But since ANBU did not care for age, gender or rank, he guessed it wasn't that surprising after all. The Hokage must have had something special in mind, Genma thought, as he stole a gaze at his Godaime. The busty blond woman stood among the ANBU captains and emanated a strong aura, even in the midst of an ANBU crowd. She did an excellent job of making people notice her and shrink in her powerful presence.

"Since our identities are to remain hidden, what is your given name amongst us?" The ANBU ceremonial leader asked her, as she bowed down on one leg in front of him. Without looking up, she answered without pondering.

"Utsuro Sen." Her voice was low and muffled by the mask, making it sound a lot darker than it actually was.

"Then, Utsuro Sen is your given name. Your mask will remain blank, according to your request. Rise, and you will be called ANBU. To support our Hokage and the protection of our village, we welcome you to us." The ANBU captain spoke, a hint of incredulity in his voice - seemingly thinking the girl too young as well. Only Genma knew she was still a Chunin. She would need to prove herself amongst the ANBU members or she would never be accepted amongst the ranks. The girl rose from her position and bowed first to the Godaime, then to the Captain and then to the rest of the ANBU members crowd witnessing the ceremony. If anything, Genma mused, she was polite.

The ceremony was finished and the ANBU vanished in groups to attend missions, train or write mission reports. The Godaime glanced once at the kunoichi with a blank mask, then turned around and left. Genma had been appointed to show the kunoichi around the ANBU headquarters compound. It was a larger housing complex than what most people would think, so to find one's way through the maze of corridors took some time. Genma went up to the now standing kunoichi. He wore his own mask so she wouldn't recognise him.

"Sen! I'll show you around. Come with me." He cheered and patted her shoulder. The blank mask turned up to him and she nodded. They went into the corridor leading to the dining room, then went to the under ground training areas. The kunoichi seemed to take note of her surroundings and she politely disregarded the map he had offered her of the compound.

"I have the map in my head, no need for a physical one." She said and coughed. Genma noted how strained her voice sounded, but he didn't think more of it. When they reached the weapons storage he noticed that she had fallen behind. When he looked back he saw her shoulders shivering and she steadied herself against the wall while breathing hard.

"How are you, Sen?" Genma asked, concern in his voice. The kunoichi didn't look up at him or answer his question, she suddenly clenched her shirt at the chest and wheezed loudly. Genma was fast to catch the kunoichi when she fell. He felt how her body was burning up and he quickly noted she had a high fever. She shivered in his steadying arms.

"You're going to see medical attention. Right now." He stated and picked her up into his arms, huddling her like a baby. The kunoichi gasped, as if in pain. Genma started running through the compound, towards the hospital. Suddenly, she gripped his shirt weakly.

"Shi-izune. N-not Tsun-nade. T-take off m-my mask." She said meekly and then let go of his shirt. Genma looked at her, the blank mask hiding her face, and sniffed. Why would she want to see Shizune? And how did she know that he had recognised her? From what he knew, Shizune was a proficient medic and a poison's expert only. When they arrived at the hospital, the kunoichi was unconscious and he had had stripped her of her mask as well as the usual ANBU harness. None could see what she was. Now, it only looked like she had been on a mission gone awry and he had saved her on orders from the Hokage, or something like that. Genma called for Shizune and found her on a break in the personnel rest room. The black haired woman was fast to get up from the chair, almost spilling her coffee in the process, and rushed to the two ANBU.

"What happened?" Shizune quickly asked as she guided him to a room and ushered him inside. Genma put the sweating girl down on the bed as he mumbled that he didn't know.

"Thank you for bringing her. I need to focus, so please leave the rest to me." She whirled around and her hands were all over the unconscious girl, searching for the cause of her collapse, and Genma saw the pinkette's breathing slow down. But he understood that Shizune needed to concentrate, so he left with a slight wave of his hand.

* * *

_The Older Apprentice Shizune_

_Foolish girl_, Shizune thought with acid in her mind. She found that in the girl's blood stream there was several different poisons, spread out into every limb and muscle. Shizune was successfully able to draw out most of the deadly poison, with a small cut on the girl's skin at her solar plexus, and the poison seeped out from the girl's body and gathered in a dark blue ball of chakra containing it in Shizune's hand. She put the poison into a glass container and sealed it, then secured the bottle tightly. She couldn't do more for the girl since the remaining poisons in the girl's body were too difficult to draw out.

Shizune found herself standing besides the bed, staring at the pink haired kunoichi sleeping restlessly, sometimes twitching and gasping as she sweated. Shizune remembered all those months ago, was it four- five months even?, when they had chatted in the hospital rest room on a break. The girl back then had been cheerful and took the work as a nurse seriously. Shizune and Sakura had then started to talk about poisons since a man had just been brought in, he had convulsions and blood seeped out from every opening in his body. Shizune had handled the poison extraction and Sakura had helped as she watched and learned at the same time. Even though Shizune had extracted the poisons, it was too late. The man died from internal bleeding, the collapse of his lungs and because of the poison that had made his heart unable to beat no more. Sakura had written the time of death on the board handed to her.

Shizune knew what had happened to the dead man, since she had had similar poisoned patients before. She had explained to the girl on the coffee break that it existed a hidden village in the south that none knew by name, but it was known for its famous poisons; as well as their Black Widows. The Black Widows were shinobi women, women who had been fed poisons in their food from the day they came out of the womb. Every day of their lives; they ate poisons in their breakfast, lunch and dinner - even in their apples. They were fragile and weak because of the poisons, yet they were known for their unparalleled beauty, shimmering long blond hair, luscious pink lips and smooth skin. The Black Widows, at the age of 18, were sent on their first missions. Because when they turned 18 years of age, their bodily fluids were then poisonous; meaning, if they kissed a man and exchanged saliva, the deadly poison in their bodies made it a kiss of death. That made for perfect seduction and annihilation missions. Even worse was the intercourse apparently, since that way it took a bit longer before the subjugated men died and in that time the Black Widows could extract information from their dying victims with the promise of an antidote - which never came. Their blood, it was heard, was the most lethal fluid of their bodies.

Shizune told the girl that the Black Widows had to have their daily amount of poisons inserted into their food, or the poison in their bodies would turn against them and they would die themselves. Shizune remembered the Haruno's eyes shining in admiration. She had then reprimanded the girl for looking so interested at hearing of their profession, since it meant that the women could have no lovers, no children of their own. The Black Widows were cursed with their fates, since they were born into it. However, it was a rare phenomena and only existed in that certain village of poisons.

The Haruno girl had deliberated, mulled over the fact of the Widows. Then, Sakura's eyes had pierced Shizune's in an instant. The girl covered her mouth in realisation. She had then asked if Shizune had been born in that village. Shizune had denied it and laughed, ruffling the girls hair and reminded her that the women from that village had blond hair and was beautiful. Shizune had black hair and had average looks.

Shizune clenched her fist in that moment of recollection. How perceptive that girl was. The black haired medic closed her eyes as she remembered the last part of that coffee break. The Haruno had apologised that she had asked. But she was still interested in the aspect of gaining immunity to poisons by inserting it into ones food. Shizune had told her that to build up a resistance took many, many years to achieve and small portions of the poison into the food. But the girl had been persistent, saying things about it being useful - something or other. Shizune then had showed the girl a food poisoning schedule which showed just how many milligrams of poison was required each day to not kill her, and Shizune had done this without actually considering the fact that girl might very well, possibly, try it on herself. Shizune had never even thought that the emotional, little pink haired girl would do something so foolish. If one milligram poison was amiss in the portions, it meant instant death.

But the little pink haired girl had apparently done something foolish. Shizune recognised that the poison in the girl's body had been in there for months, festering but fading, yet her body had built up a resistance against it she noted when she found the antibodies. The black haired kunoichi went to the girl, checked her pulse and looked into her eyes as she opened her eyed lid. The girl's eyes were unseeing, as she still was unconscious, but Shizune saw the after effect of the poisons in her eyes. The girl's black pupils had shrunk to a minimal dot, almost eerily similar to a predator's eyes. There was a light sheen of sweat on the girl's skin.

Shizune didn't want to admit that she was impressed with the girl, but she most definitely was. Eating poisons is painful, Shizune knew by experience. Sometimes one could fall ill for one whole week due to one certain poison the body hadn't had much immunity to, but one still had to eat the daily poisons. She understood why the Haruno had done it in the beginning; gaining a resistance to a few poisons would be very favourable to a medic. She would be able to find an antidote easily for those who fell for a poison, and she would be able to heal patients who had contagious poisons inside their bodies.

However, she didn't find the girl amiable anymore. Shizune had seen the pinkette and Tsunade's latest disrupting interactions and there was definitely something wrong. Sakura had had several arguments with the Hokage during the last month, yelling at each other about morals and about being too soft or too harsh. Shizune didn't really know what to make of it, since the two had gotten along really well in the beginning and Shizune had seen the start of a friendship between the two; almost a mother and daughter relationship. But then all had fallen to pieces. It was after that coma Sakura had been in. Shizune wondered what could have changed the girl so much in her sleep.

A muffled moan was heard from the hospital bed and Shizune snapped back to reality, leaving her memories behind. She saw the Haruno's eyes flutter open, still predatory like.

"Sakura?" Shizune asked, feeling the girl's forehead. It was sweaty, but without poison.

"Sorry, Shizune. Seems like I took an overdoes this morning." The pinkette rasped and cleared her throat, eyes swimming. Shizune pressed the girl back into the hospital bed when it seemed like she wanted to get up.

"You're an idiot, Sakura-san." Shizune reprimanded the pinkette and went to get some water to give to the girl. The girl's immune system would take care of the rest of the poisons and so, there was nothing else Shizune could do for the girl in medical terms.  
"Spot on." Sakura smiled tiredly, drank some of the offered water and wiped sweat from her forehead. "I need to get home. I have an antidote for the Mamba poison there-"  
"_The_ Mamba poison? That's one of the most lethal poisons in the Five Elemental Nations! There's no antidote-"

"I know. That's why it's good to build up a resistance against it, isn't it? And I made an antidote. It took a while though. And it didn't work at first." The girl grinned through the pain visible in her green glassy eyes as she with great effort got up from the bed, leaving Shizune standing speechless beside the bed. The pinkette staggered out of the door and whispered something almost inaudible to Shizune with her back turned away.

"Thank you, Widow."

* * *

_The Man Named Sai_

A few days after the ceremony, when she had been accepted into ANBU, Danzō had sent them on a scroll retrieving mission to Iwagakure to make them used to each other. The retrieving mission didn't require the use for their ANBU attire since they were supposed to be unnoticeable. The girl, Haruno Sakura, met him in the morning wearing civilian clothes but he knew there was weapons stored underneath the fabric. They stood on the rooftop furthest from the center of Konohagakure, in the outskirts of the hidden village. Sai, which was now his name, donned a stomach showing top and black a hakama, and his drawing scrolls were strapped on his back.

"Good morning, Sai." She drawled. "Ready?"

"Yes." He said and they jumped off the rooftop and sprinted into the forest.

They travelled mostly in silence during the short trip to Iwagakure, both keeping the strict pace. The girl was quiet, as if she contemplated something. Sai noted the katana strapped on her back and he felt quiet uneasy. The katana seemed to have some kind of dark chakra induced to it. He didn't ask her about it though.

They arrived and got the scroll in the village - all going smooth and well. On the way back, however, a few chakra presences ahead in the forest alerted them and they stopped.

"How many?" Sakura asked tiredly, as she tucked the scroll securely into her backpack. They had been keeping a very, very strict pace. It was a silent challenge between the two and they had been racing against each other constantly through the entire trip. It was a bit childish, but he found it amusing. They had been very even, but the Haruno had leapt off one time and won the race.

"I believe they are around fifteen. I think they have noticed us." Sai suggested as he tried to count the chakra presences hidden in the foliages. And true to his word, projectiles were shot at them a few moments later. Sai and Sakura evaded them fluently and Sakura was about to wield her katana, but suddenly a large bolt of fire rushed to them. Sai was flung into a tree and he felt how his leg shattered into pieces on impact. Sakura seemed to have fared worse though, as she lay slumped on the ground a few feet away, having burn marks on her body and three large chunks of wood was stuck into her back. Sai wrinkled his nose. This was not good. He couldn't move, and he had hit his head pretty hard as well. He felt blood trickle down his face.

"We got her!" A voice called and a missing nin from Kirigakure appeared behind a bush, flaunting a large battle axe on his shoulder and an obnoxious grin on his face.

"I thought I recognised her! It's Cherry. From the Bingo Books! I was right!" He cheered and sprang towards the kunoichi. Others followed him and they all looked roughed up, as hungry eyes travelled to her form they realised the bounty on her head. The man with the axe bowed down to tie the girl up, but as he did a hand shot out and went through his chest. Sparkling, the chakra scalpels on her fingers were unmistakable. The man coughed blood onto her and wriggled in her death grip, as he struggled against life leaving him. Then he fell, his neck down on his chest, and the kunoichi breathed hard as she retracted her gory hand from his muscles and tendons. The next missing nin was upon her in seconds, as he kicked her in the head. Hard. Sai swore he heard a crack and he hesitantly thought that Haruno Sakura had died as she was flung into a tree beside him, making it shook violently so leaves spread out into the wind.

The missing nin who had kicked her growled and produced chakra restraining chains from his back pocket. He went and roughly tied her hands behind her back and shackled her feet, smacking and beating her at the same time. She was rendered incapacitated. The missing nin coldly broke all of her fingers in anger, even though she was bound. Sai could her a muffled scream come from her mouth, but she bit it back hard. The other missing nin cheered and a few went up to inspect Sai, only to determine that he might sell for some price as well since he was accompanying Cherry. Sai couldn't really think straight, as everything was a blur and he was tied up and he couldn't move and there was pain all over his body, and he felt his leg numbing and he knew that wasn't good. In a moment, he passed out.

When he woke up, he found himself in a dark room, chains binding him to the wall. His leg was bleeding and bones peeked up form the ravaged flesh and he cringed. Sai looked up and saw Sakura on the other end of the room, chained as well to the wall, and those tree chunks still stuck into her back. They hadn't even bothered to take them out. The room was crowded, with the missing nin from Kirigakure, cheering and celebrating the capture of the recently infamous Cherry. One of the missing nin, seemingly the captain, held Sakura's katana in his hands, showing it to the others as they drank saké at a long table in the middle of the room. The captain was about to wield the katana from its scabbard, but a raspy voice hindered him, rupturing the talking.

"Don't touch her. She'll kill you." Sakura wheezed from the other end of the room. She earned an amused glance from the man, who then stood and walked up to her, with the katana swinging at his side, swinging the saké bottle with the other.

"What are you, delirious? Who? It's a fucking _sword_, Cherry pie." He quipped and slowly drew the sword from the scabbard with a grin, right in front of her face. Within moments, the whole of his sclerae seeped into darkness; his eyes turned black. The other missing nin the room didn't notice, except the one closest to the chained Sakura and the black eyed man. He turned in chair and got up, and as he went to them he saw the captain's eyes.

"What the fuck? What's with your eyes, Katsuri-taichou?" The man asked and backed away from him. The missing nin Katsuri turned to his comrade, a few breaths went by and then the captain violently thrust the katana into his comrade's stomach. The dying missing nin's scream caught the attention of the others. They stared at him in disbelief. Then an uproar broke the silence.

"Katsuri-taichou!"

"What's going on?"

"Must be a genjutsu!"

The missing nin rushed at the black eyed man Katsuri, drawing their swords to make him incapacitated. Katsuri's face was cold as stone and he swiftly killed three of the missing nin in one go, as flowing as water and just as slippery he avoided the onslaught and killed meticulously. However, one missing nin successfully decapitated him from behind when he was busy killing two of his own comrades. Katsuri's head rolled on the ground to Sakura's shackled feet.

"What the hell?" The nin shouted, seeing five of his comrades on the ground, no longer breathing. He looked at the sword in Katsuri's still hands on the ground in a pool of blood and the nin was drawn to it. He picked it up curiously to study it, but in a second his eyes turned black as well. The other missing nin who were left alive screamed as he killed the last missing nin. The bloody mess on the ground and the gory sight seemed to have no effect on the black eyed nin; since he no longer ruled his own body. The missing nin then walked up to in front of Sakura. He cut off her ropes and unlocked her chains, and she slumped down in a heap but was fast to violently pull out the chunks of wood in her back. Then he stared into her eyes as he slit his own throat with a gurgling sound escaping his lips. She looked at the body in silence as it crumpled to the ground.

"I'm sorry." She whispered and then picked up the sword. Her eyes turned white for one second, then they were gleaming green again. As if she had a second voice in her head.

"What? They didn't count? Izanami-sama..." She debated, seemingly to thin air. Sai sniffed.

The shackled man on the other side only stared at the unbelievable scene in front if him. What he had just witnessed made no sense to him at all. Sakura turned to him with a scowl on her face, walked up to him and cut his ropes and chains. He watched the sword warily. As if her eyes would turn black as well.

"This is Izanami. She doesn't like being touched." Sakura saw his defensive sitting pose and explained as she slid the katana into the scabbard. Unknowingly, Sai could breath again. Had he been holding his breath?

"I-I see. So this isn't the first time. Would you elaborate?" Sai asked, blank eyes staring at the katana.

"Well, it's a demon sword. We have a contract and she gets pissed if someone else, whom she calls 'unworthy, touches her. She can overrule someones mind and drench them in bloodlust and make them obsess over the colour 'red'. So, yeah. She makes them into killer machines." Sakura finished and Sai felt how he couldn't do anything else but stare at her. The Haruno wrinkled her nose when her gaze dropped to his still leg.

"That leg looks like shit." Sakura eyed his shattered bones and bent down, positioning herself in front of it. Her left hand searched through the surface of the skin, the ragged bones and flesh. Then, healing green chakra seeped from her finger tips and started to knit the muscle tissue together, reattach the nerve endings and thus stopping the blood flow. Sai only watched as he felt her and his chakra pull against each other.

"I'm going to retract the bone now. It will hurt." She said through clenched teeth and even stronger green chakra whirled around his bone and he felt as if his leg was numbing but was ravaged by fire as well and then it felt like his leg was chopped into pieces and then he felt as if it had frozen and then he could breath. It was over.

"You did good, Sai." The Haruno girl grinned and reached out her hand for his. He stared at it for a second, felt how his leg was now _totally fine_, and so he accepted her hand and they rose together.

"May I give you a nickname?" Sai found himself asking the girl as they walked out of the dark room and into a dimly lit corridor.

"Sure." Sakura grinned and cracked a few muscles as she unconsciously healed her right hand's fingers.

"Ugly." Sai said and was pleased with himself. He had read in a book on human interaction that it was important to have nicknames... for one's friends. It made them feel 'closer'.

"Fuckface." Sakura laughed and patted his shoulder. "I like how honest you are, Sai."

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hey!

Thank you so much for the latest reviews! You guys just don't know how much I appreciate them. You rock!

And I have noticed I am in dire need of a Beta. I kind of know where I'm going with this fanfic, but it's hard to knit everything together. So as usual, if you notice something that's off, please tell me!

xx fascalia


	8. Insignificant Third

**Transition**

Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.  
/Non-Canon, Sakura-centric

Chapter 8

Through the Eyes of a Man with a Borrowed Eye, the Snotty Brat and a Prodigy

* * *

_The Man of Shadows Shimura Danzō_

Danzō read through the report the Root member's, who was now called Sai, and Haruno Sakura's mission report. They had successfully retrieved the scroll, as well annihilated fifteen missing nin from Kirigakure. He had not expected that. According to the report, Sai's leg had been shattered and deemed unusable due to a fire jutsu directed at them. Haruno had led little damage except for a few broken fingers and injuries to her back from tree splinters. Even so, she had somehow succeeded in breaking free of the chakra restraining chains and slaughtered every single one of the missing nin with only one katana. He wondered if he had misjudged her strengths even more.

He didn't trust her, he trusted none, but she reminded him of himself in his younger days. Eager to prove herself, raising through the ranks rapidly, always looking for ways to make Konoha a feared village. He found himself falling a bit for that likeness to himself. He gripped the mission report slightly in his hand, crumpling the piece of paper. He would train her. He would train her hard, so she would surpass everyone she ever saw as the strongest. She would be one of his shields. She had the right determination, she craved strength, she had the disguise of a weak looking body and her hair contributed to that image as well, and she had medical knowledge. If trained properly, she would turn into the perfect weapon. And he would be able to manipulate her according to his own will.

She had two simultaneous jobs currently though; one as ANBU and one as the double agent for himself as a Root member. But he would most definitely find the time to train her until she bled. Until she begged. He took out his schedule for the week and found a couple of blank spaces during the evenings. Accordingly, he wrote a draft for her training, where location, type of training and time was specified. He then called for a Root member to deliver her training schedule immediately. When the Root member disappeared with a nod and in a puff of smoke, Danzō leaned back into his chair. He was pleased with the recent developments. In a year, she would be ready to confront the last Uchiha. If she didn't die in the process of annihilating him, she would be one of his most useful assets in Root. Danzō stretched his hand and then tucked out a book from his drawer, a book on the ancient politics of Hashirama's reign. It always made him feel at ease, reading those frayed words which he already knew by heart. He didn't know how many times he had read this book, but it was never one too many.

* * *

_The Man With a Borrowed Eye Hatake Kakashi_

Kakashi was a clever and hard-edged man. He had lived through more than most other shinobi his age, even though he wasn't the only one who had lost people close to him - his loss and that situation had left more than just a scar on his face. The burden of his gift and last reminiscence of his comrade still plagued him, but it also always left him feeling proud of his eye. It was his reminder to always look out for those close to him, never abandon a teammate and strive to succeed in missions preferably without causalities. So when Kakashi had gotten tired of looking after those little Genin teams, scurrying around and not being interesting at all - he found himself missing the lost days of Team Seven.

He recalled the past in a moment of closing his eyes, when he perched in a tree hiding from his current Genin team, and his eye abandoned the pages of his book to drift in the abyss of memories. That little dysfunctional and oh-so-interesting team. That Team Seven consisting of a grinning fox boy, a powerful brooding survivor and a weak, annoying girl.

The Kyuubi container who bore the will of fire deep in his heart, that cheerful energy that could oppose the sun, those cerulean blue eyes that shone of the want to be recognised - to be seen. That blond bob of hair, and the whiskers on his cheeks, and that never ending cheering of 'dattebayo'. Kakashi felt his lips quirk slightly in amusement at the memory of his student. The most unpredictable ninja - with a heart so big and with room for everyone's pain, he just couldn't understand how the little fox boy hadn't imploded in and on himself. He was an idiot, but a powerful idiot with a big heart. That just made him so much more amiable and easier to relate to.

Then those crimson eyes flashed to his mind and Kakashi felt the smile falter. How much that boy must have suffered. Those eyes that could turn into a spinning scarlet colour at any given moment. Those handsome features that had earned him the infatuation of almost every kunoichi in the village. That raven coloured hair, that pale complexion, those always flexing muscles. That search for strength for all the wrong reasons. That day he left them for Orochimaru. Kakashi clenched his jaw. He had seen potential in the boy, so he had taught him the Chidori. A jutsu he had come to regret teaching the brat. The copy nin hummed silently. He recalled that bond that Naruto and Sasuke shared. How Naruto had been so ferocious in bringing the Uchiha back. How he would never give up on his first friend. And Sasuke, who had seemed for a time, to behold the bond they shared as something legit. But then it had all turned out to be wrong. Kakashi wondered if the Uchiha had fallen deeper into the hatred seeping in his heart, how much stronger he must be now. How different he must be. And if he ever would come back home. The silver haired man sighed deeply, his eyes still closed.

Then, Kakashi was reminded of the fact that he had kind of forgotten about the pink haired kunoichi on the team, whom was still in the village. He almost felt sorry for the girl as he opened his eyes and looked out to the streets of Konoha. He was reminded of her petal-hued hair, those big green eyes that shone with innocence, narcissism, blind love and the naiveness of a child - never the eyes of a shinobi. He hadn't met her for a long time now, but the latest news was that she had been dismissed as the apprentice of the Hokage and now only took up a few missions on her free time from the hospital, where she worked as the head of the nurses at times. He found himself feeling the tiniest bit guilty; maybe she needed someone. To only just... be there for her. He didn't know what had unfolded between the Hokage and Sakura, but he didn't need to know. Sakura was one who was too prone for emotional outbursts and that combined with the short temper of the Hokage he could see that there had been differences and difficulties with coping with each other.

But if she had been so unwise as to not obey orders or listen to the Hokage of all people, maybe she wasn't as clever as he remembered her to be. Kakashi pondered; she was after all his former student, so he had some kind of responsibility on how she had developed during the years. Maybe she needed to be reprimanded. Maybe he would need to remind her to respect authority, as she had once respected him, and accept herself. Kakashi's watched the sun fall in shafts through the canopy of the tree, playing with the shadows on the branch. Maybe it was time for a little visit to his beloved former student. He jumped down from the branch and went to give some simple instructions to his little annoying Genin team, as he came up with an excuse on why he was late.

A few hours later into the afternoon, he found himself outside of the pink haired girl's apartment, having successfully escaped his annoying Genin team, and then he knocked three times before she opened the door, appearing in the later afternoon sun light. It took him by a little surprise, not that she had opened the door unexpectedly, no. It was her appearance. Her pink, flowing hair was long and straight and reached below her collarbone. Her creamy complexion was framed by bangs, combed to the sides of her face almost symmetrically. Her features had matured, her green eyes sapphire-like and her lips were a luscious pink. Her figure had taken on an hourglass form, her waist hugged tightly by the black shirt she donned, yet showing slender muscles on her bare arms. She had a katana strapped on her back. The beige skirt she wore did nothing to hide her long and slim legs. Her ankles and wrists wore some kind of bracelets, ugly black ones, which seemed to fill no other function than a piss at the fashion industry. He was so surprised he almost dropped his most valuable treasure, but he fumbled with the latest edition of Icha Icha until it was in a hard grip in his hand. Her verdant eyes grew bigger as she took in the appearance of her former teacher, probably not having expected to see him any time soon.

"You grew out your hair, Sakura." Was all he could muster as he regained his steely composure. She seemed not to have noticed his little surprise outbreak.

"Very perceptive, sensei." Sakura quipped, smirking with her head tilted to the side. "It was a long time since we last saw each other. Would you like some tea? I have two hours to spare at the moment." She said, standing casually at the threshold, leaning to the door frame with her hip. Kakashi blinked.

"Do you have camomile?" He asked, stuffing his beloved book into a pocket, trying not to think of the matured woman in front of him having been his own student once.

"I'll go have a look. Ino went and bought a hundred different tea flavours, saying I drink too much coffee and should explore the wonders of brewed water." Sakura sniffed and rolled her eyes as she shuffled inside, leaving the door open for Kakashi to follow. He went inside after her, looking around her quite spartan, simple apartment. He didn't quite understand why she had moved out from her parent's house. Sure, she might want to be independent, but Kakashi couldn't help himself but to think of Naruto and Sasuke. How much they would have appreciated living in their parent's house. How they would give everything to have a family of their own. How they would feel if she told them that she had left her parents for loneliness in an empty apartment.

The clatter of tea cups from the kitchen brought him back, and he shook his head. He flash stepped inside the kitchen and Sakura gestured for him to sit down at the kitchen table without looking at him. Kakashi sat down and noticed a thin layer of dust on the table surface. He wrinkled his nose. Either Sakura was a horrible cleaner, or she was never at home. It must be the latter, he mused as she put down the blue tea cups in front of him. She strutted up to the water boiler and put it on. When she moved, her hips swayed to one side more so than the other, Kakashi noted. Then he cursed himself for looking at her hips. He told himself, to clam himself down instead, that he only looked at it since it meant she probably had an old injury in her right leg. That's why she swayed one way a little, little more than the other with her hips.

Kakashi looked up from deliberating with his fisted hands and saw Sakura watching him with a smile, leaning against the counter as she waited for the water to boil.

"It really was a long time ago..." He heard her muse under her breath.

"So how are missions going, Sakura? You're a Medic now, I presume. It must be a lot of hard work." He tried to stir up the conversation, maybe he'd be able to direct it to the apprenticeship to the Hokage. To why she had been dismissed.

"You haven't looked into the Bingo Books lately, huh, sensei." Her eyes gleamed. Kakashi cocked his head slightly to the side in inquiry, but she didn't elaborate on her statement any further, so he didn't ask. He hadn't actually looked into the Books for a while, since it wasn't necessary for the time being; what with him being chased by the Genin teams and they most certainly were no missing nin.

"Missions are going well. However, I am not much in the role of a Medic anymore. I step in sometimes, but I prefer being in the front. Would you like honey, milk or sugar in your tea?" She asked, as she poured the hot water into their cups.

"No, thank you. I like it with a strong flavour." He replied as she put the teabags into their cups and nodded. He only creased an eyebrow and watched the pink haired kunoichi sip her tea in silence. When she raised her head, she looked straight into his eyes and a smile crept onto her pink lips.

"What about a little spar, Kakashi-sensei? I won't use Izanami." She grinned almost playfully into her tea cup. Kakashi sipped his camomile tea. It was bitter, yet sweet. Maybe just like this moment.

"Izanami? Is that the name of your katana?" He chuckled at her cockiness and self confidence. She had always been a little too self confident every time she had learnt and perfected a little jutsu. He found the girl amusing, but a little disappointing. She hadn't changed much since she was a Genin. And the fact remained that she was still a Chunin, she hadn't even tried out for the Jounin exams a few weeks ago. Hyuuga Neji and Nara Shikamaru had passed, none else from teams though. But Sakura hadn't even _tried_.

"Yeah. Izanami is the katana." She replied as she scanned him with her verdant eyes.

"Why do you want to spar?" Kakashi wondered, scratching the back of his silver hair with a frown.  
"Why not? For old times' sake. Maybe a replay of the bell test?" She suggested and he pondered it for a bit in silence, sipped his tea, then he turned his head to her. Her eyes were shining green in expectation.  
"Are you up for it?" Kakashi's eye crinkled in a hidden, masked smile. He always had the bells on him, as a memento of their first spar with him. He brought the two bells up from his deepest pocket and the two bells chimed together. Sakura looked at the two bells with burning sapphire eyes.

"Are you?" Her smirk turned almost devilish as she finished her tea and stood up. Kakashi followed her example and they left to the training grounds. For old times' sake, they went to training area seven. They stood still, facing each other on the solid ground.

As he fastened the bells to his belt with a tingling sound, he thought about what he'd do after the spar was over. He'd lecture her. He'd pin her to the ground and teach her to respect her elders and to not be over confident in her abilities. She was, after all, still Haruno Sakura, the insignificant third of Team Seven. The one without abilities, the one without blood line heritage, the one without a monster sealed inside her belly. Really, didn't she know enough to just accept her place?

"If I win this spar, Kakashi-sensei, I will take off your mask and stop calling you sensei." Sakura suddenly broke the silence and she watched him with those worn glinting eyes. Kakashi almost felt his mouth open in question, but thought better of it. He'd accept that condition. But then he would have conditions of his own.

"Sure. However, if you lose this spar, you will go to Tsunade and apologise. Find another teacher and be humble. And wait for your team to come back." He said as he watched her reaction. Her facade didn't change and she only widened her grin.

"I won't agree to that last part, but the other first two - yes." She said and cracked her fists loudly.

Kakashi watched her silently and then he sighed. "Alright, Sakura", he said, "Let's spar, then." He disappeared in a puff of smoke when the last syllable left his mouth. He flash stepped to a tree branch nearby where he could see what her next move would be, so he could read his book all the while. But it seemed she had moved away as well, since the training area was empty of pink. He didn't have time to search for her presence or close Icha Icha as he felt something behind him. He swirled out of the way from her fist, down to the ground. A thump behind him told him that she had followed him closely and he had to dodge, fast, when a high kick directed at his head seared past him.

His black eye widened. When had she gained such speed? Kakashi was one of the fastest shinobi in Konoha. And she was almost matching him? When the pink haired girl's eyes flashed green he jumped back to avoid an upper cut, which was followed with a downwards kick. When had she learnt taijutsu to this extent? Her feet met the ground with a pending crack. Then the ground broke. Geysers of dust shot out from the ground as the cracks spread and the entire training area was turned into rocks and cracks. Kakashi had sprinted a bit further away and watched warily the chaos of stones and rubble. Something was wrong. That was inhuman strength. Something flashed on his retina and he was reminded of those black bracelets. He had seen similar bracelets on Gai once.

He ducked when several kunais were shot at him. The explosive tags that were attached exploded as they went over his head, and so he disappeared into the ground with a light jutsu. As he was underneath the ground, in the murkiness of the earth he let himself ponder. He had to re-evaluate everything he knew about her. He went through her abilities in his mind; perfect chakra control, scholastic intelligence, average ninjutsu, genjutsu and fuinjutsu. Weak frame. Medical knowledge and abilities. But that did not define her now. Then suddenly he heard a shout '_under_!' and the ground split and he had to avoid her fists again, so he sprinted up from under the ground. When he saw her sharp eyes between the falling stones, he changed his mind. He'd give her a taste of his real strength, since she was... different.

Kakashi is fast. That, if any ability except for the Sharingan, is what he is good at. One could say excellent, even. He flashed behind her, she stood in the middle of the training grounds which was eerily similar to Naruto's tactic. When she turned around to deliver a blow to his face, he dodged but went with her momentum and in a second, he had her pinned to the ground. Memories flashed in his eyes of that first day of Team Seven. He heard a grunt when the pink haired kunoichi hit the ground, hard. She wriggled, then looked at him through a whirl of pink messy hair which had slipped out from her bun. With hot and jagged and sharp pale emerald eyes she glared at him - but with a hint of smugness, even though he had her pinned to the ground. He couldn't understand, why did it seem like she was... excited? He hardened his grip.

Then he heard a little chuckle as he was about to say that she should give up.

"Maybe it's time to take off the weights." She mumbled, her eyes darkening and her breaths turning slower and deeper underneath him. The blush on her cheeks didn't fade. And then, one click, then two, three, four clicks were heard, snapping the silence each time. Her black bracelets fell to the ground, probably opened by a chakra enhanced lock, and they fell hard and on impact with the ground, small craters exploded where they landed. And as they fell, so did he when she swiped him off his feet. He was fast to roll away on the ground as she continued the assault, even faster and faster, every strike delivered he barely dodged as he was up. She was _faster_.

"Feels like I'm flying." She whispered as she spun around to perform a round house kick. At this, he found himself unable to avoid it, so he blocked it with his arms. But in the last millisecond, she changed the direction of her kick to land in his side. With a cough, he flew several meters away and slid into the ground, gasping, the soil welcoming him. She had successfully broken several ribs in his side and he suspected they were close to puncturing his lung. _What was that_? He was beyond surprised. As he coughed slimy blood onto the ground, he saw in the corner of his eye that she seemed just as surprised as him. She had actually landed a hit on the famous Copy Nin Hatake Kakashi.

At this, he grumbled and rose. He had misjudged her dangerously much. In an instant, he produced several shurikens, ignoring the pain in his side, and cast the deadly projectiles as he ran towards her. She dodged them and ran towards him as well, stepping lightly. When she met him, she gave him a right hook to the face, crumbling it to pieces and shattering his jaw bone. Or well, his clone's jaw bone, as it dispersed in a puff of smoke. He was behind her, an old tactic where he jutsued himself into a shuriken and was left abandoned behind her, and so he kicked her hard in the back. She flew away and he saw how she grimaced in pain, but at the same time she somersaulted through the air and sent kunais his way, which he evaded closely, still too near.

He followed after her as she crashed into the ground and coughed, gasping, but he did not give her mercy. He kicked down, but she rolled away and jumped up, standing defensively with blood smeared on her face. But with green burning eyes. He was after her in a second, darting from side to side to evade the kunais flung at him, and then he was in front of her. Delivering a chakra enhanced punch to her arm, he heard a deafening crack and flesh ripping. He expected her to further the distance with a leap away, or cry, but she stood still. When he retracted his hand, he looked at the mess he made of her arm. It was broken and in pieces, hanging loosely from her shoulder. She grabbed her arm in a grimace to stop the blood flow, but she still stood in front of him. Foolish girl, he thought as he kicked towards her, but somehow she managed to flip around and get close beside him, stretching for one bell at his side with her good arm. But he sprinted away, she following close after. He saw her eyes pierce his, with those little dots of pupils, she looked like a predator.

In a flash she was besides him and delivered a swirling, strong kick to his side. Right on the wound she had inflicted earlier. Kakashi felt another rib break and his internal organs took a real bad toll. He rolled away, coughing, clenching his teeth, as he saw her coming after him. He needed to stall her. So he did, what he had done to no other student before, let out his killing intent. It seeped into the air, bloody and murderous, and reached the girl. Surprised green eyes, when she stopped hesitantly, as she felt how the goose bumps on her flesh told her to run away. A warning. But then, as Kakashi continued to leak his killing intent, she smirked. That girl actually smirked, when she was supposed to cry and fall to the ground and vomit her guts out, she _smirked_?

Then, something pressed into his mind. It started as something cold, then freezing, then it shattered into a million pieces of icicles and he groaned as the headache overthrew him. He felt blood run down in his mind, he felt that he would die today and there was nothing that could prevent it from happening, it was simple fate. He clutched his Sharingan eye, it reacted to the hatred and the blood lust and it was spinning, he huffed and squeezed his eyes shut.

Suddenly, the pressure was gone. He blearily looked up to the kunoichi, since he was sprawled on the ground he noticed, now standing in front of him. He felt warmth spread in his head as the headache slowly dissipated.

"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei. My killing intent slipped." She said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head, blood still seeping out from her mouth and her arm hung uselessly at her side. _Killing intent slipped?_ What was this girl on? Kakashi almost sputtered, but then the girl bent down and took one bell with a grin plastered on her bloodied face. When she reached for the other, Kakashi reacted. Almost unconsciously, he activated the chidori and hit the wide eyed girl. It didn't go inside her, but she was flung away by the sheer force of it, still clutching the bell in her grip.

Kakashi realised his mistake and tried to get up, but the pain in his side reminded him of the need to seek medical attention right away, but still he got up and jogged to the slumped kunoichi on the ground, biting back the pain. Sakura still held tight to the bell, even though she seemed unconscious. Kakashi bent down and touched her good shoulder lightly, shaking it however gently.

"Sakura? I'm sorry. Do you hear me? Sakura?" He called and felt fear clench his heart when she didn't respond. What had he done?

"Ugh." A muffled, annoyed sound came from the kunoichi's mouth on the ground. Sakura opened her sharp eyes and looked at him, then smiled a thin smile. She gazed over her shoulder with a frown and then he saw green, healing chakra seep into the wounds, knitting muscles together, coming form her good hand, the one without a scar in the palm. He looked on in silent amazement. He coughed blood, then sniffed as she looked at him.

"I'm sorry Sakura. I shouldn't have taken you so seriously." He said, looking down.

"To fear death is to fear life itself, and to fear life is not to live at all. I needed to test my limits and to stretch them further. That's why I wanted to spar with you. And that's why I'm happy you took me seriously." She breathed, but then she smirked and Kakashi noticed her hand swing in front of his face, holding the bell as it chimed a nostalgic dirge.

"At least I got this one." The Haruno said and grinned, as if it was the happiest day of her life.

"Yes, that is true. You half-won the bet, one could say." He smiled underneath his mask. He had never expected anything like this to go down this day. And she had actually succeeded in snatching one bell from him. Only that, made him look at her even more. In a different light. It wasn't like he had gotten slack. It was her who was different.

"Guess I'll go apologise to Tsunade later today. But since we were even, Kakashi..." Sakura drawled and huffed slightly, her cheeks flushing pink still. Kakashi stood with a hand pressing to the wound she had inflicted in his side. He regretted not having used the Sharingan at this moment, as he grumbled over the wound. The girl stumbled up from her position on the ground, up to him and he almost fell into a defensive position, but the spar was over, so she wouldn't attack him now. When she was close enough for him the feel her jagged hot breath on his skin, her eyes shimmered. In an unexpected movement she had him pinned to the ground in seconds, her knees banging hard into his arms, making him unable to move as she sat on his stomach.

For a second he was afraid she would do something stupid, but then a slender pale hand reached for his face. Slowly, ever so slowly, she hooked her finger into his mask, below his eye. Green eyes burning. And with almost a perverse slowness, she dragged it bit by bit down his face, revealing his high cheek bones and the middle part of his nose. She worried her plump lips, and her eyes grew larger, her black pupils expanding slightly.

Kakashi only stared wide eyed at the woman sitting on him. He couldn't move, he couldn't prevent her. The mask reached under his nose now, her finger trembling slightly in excitement. Then, in one swift movement with her finger, she dragged the mask down completely. Kakashi felt the chilly air blow on his bare skin. But what amused him the most at that very moment was the look on Sakura's face. Her light flush from their spar was replaced with an almost red tinted blush on her cheeks. Her eyes contrasting the blush made them even more sparkling green as she stared wide eyed at his face, her luscious lips parted. Kakashi found himself liking that expression on her face, and so he showed her an arrogant slanted smirk.

"Happy now, Sakura?"

She pushed herself off from him, probably too conscious of the inappropriate position by now, and she staggered away from him, still blushing.

"Jerk." She wheezed through her teeth as she tried to calm down. Kakashi chuckled and rose, but he flinched as the wound in his side made an evil reminder. He almost fell back, but he grit his teeth and rose. Sakura looked at his hand pressing into his side, to stop the blood flow and keep a rib in place. In a flash of pink, she was there, examining his side without looking at his bare, un-masked face. He felt her fingers push away his hand and then the green, healing chakra seeped into his skin, through muscle and bones and started the healing process. His own chakra protested at first, making the two bounce against each other, stretch, but after a while he succeeded in retracting it and letting her do her work.

Kakashi wondered why she didn't do Medic work anymore. Apparently, she was quite good at it. In fact, it had been a long time since he had had a Medic do the work so fast, so fluently and without the pain and stretch of rivalling chakras. She almost made it look easy as she retracted the rib. At that, she looked up at him for a second, maybe searching for signs of pain - but since he had very high pain tolerance, his face remained unchanged. When she looked at him she blushed again and went back to working on his wound. He smirked. So his face had that kind of effect on her, he mused. When she was done, her blush had faded and her eyes glinted hard again. She stepped back to take another look at him, but this time without that blush which had invaded her cheeks before. Now, there was only sadness in her eyes. Or maybe it was nostalgia.

"Wish they had been here to see it." She whispered. And Kakashi agreed silently, knowing the two young men had been trying all of their Genin days to steal his mask. But they weren't here to witness it. He shrugged, and draped the mask over his face again, covering his features. He had a bit of contemplation to do.

What had happened to his sweet pink haired student when he had looked away for a few years? Her eyes were piercing. Visible in her silent movements and in her eyes was a light he hadn't noticed before. And most of all, she had improved. Not only in the physical department, her strategic thinking and logical reasonings had improved as well. He wondered why she hadn't tried out for Jounin, since, because of this spar, he knew she would have passed. Something was off. But maybe it wasn't? Maybe she had changed for the better? He didn't know. He was simply confused, but still kind of satisfied. Satisfied with that she had decided to never be left behind again.

* * *

_The Powerful Alcoholic Senju Tsunade_

Sakura reported regularly about what information she gathered on Danzō's activities. But it was never much, since Danzō was highly secretive and he didn't trust anyone with important information. He was the kind of man that spread only necessary information to certain cells, cells of Root members that didn't know of each other and so couldn't spread the more important information in case of capture. Even though that aspect was quite impossible, since Sakura had reported that in case of capture of a Root member the seal on their tongues would prevent them from mentioning either Danzō's name or the existence of Root. In case of them trying to say anything of the like, they would lapse into a catatonic state of paralysis due to the seal. However, this information was important for Tsunade to know. That way, she could find loopholes in the seal of their tongues. Since Sakura had only sealed a chakra induced contract preventing her from mentioning Danzō or Root, they found ways to evade it. They called Danzō _Mister_ _Shady_ and Root as the _Twigs_. Maybe the names were too similar, but in regard to the two only knowing of the names and they were the only ones exchanging the information, they didn't need lesser inconspicuous code names.

The latest report had been given to her the night before yesterday, when Tsunade and Sakura met in the darkness of the night in the Hokage Tower - since it was the only time of the days they could meet because of Tsunade's meetings and signing of papers, and Sakura's training with Danzō and the ANBU missions. The report had been concise and short, only describing her latest mission with a Root member called Sai. It had been a retrieving mission and a success, with the exception of one attack directed on Sakura because of her presence in the Bingo Books. But she had managed, not going into further detail about how, and they had gotten home mostly uninjured. Tsunade didn't ask further. But she had noted that Sakura had a bandage on her arm, an injury not described in the report. The Godaime guessed a spar, or a training session was the cause of it.

The blond, busty woman pondered for a bit. That list, the check-list Sakura had shown her the other week, was still on her mind. It was engraved, and it stuck like glue on her retina. Then the Godaime realised what it was - the list; it was Sakura's embodiment of the _Will of Fire_. Her goal, the overall goal of her list, was to protect Konoha. It was to assist the continuation of the village and its spirit. Sakura had never stopped looking at her comrades and she was willing to sacrifice her own life for them. That was what Tsunade had understood when she had read the list. And in that moment of realisation she felt so proud of the girl she almost puffed her chest too much.

And yet, that nagging feeling of possible failure haunted her thoughts. What if Sakura failed? What would she do? And if, she actually did accomplish her goals, what was her next step in life? Tsunade had seen how indulged the girl was with her goals, she wondered if she would feel a sense of emptiness once the goals were done. She most probably would. The Godaime sighed deeply and took a swig of the saké bottle, but the taste didn't please her for once. Frowning, she put the saké bottle back into the hidden drawer in her desk. It was always a task to find new hiding places for her saké bottles, away from Shizune's scrutinising and probing eyes.

Tsunade cracked her neck with a light movement. That girl just proved herself to be more and more of everything, all the way from being useful, to complex, to hard to understand yet so interesting it almost made Tsunade irritated. She was so ever changing as well. In one moment, she seemed like the same girl who had strutted into her office and asked her to take her on as an apprentice, the other she seemed like an old withered war veteran - looking at the world with worn, weary eyes. Tsunade wondered when the girl would finally find herself; when she would be pleased with who she was.

* * *

_The Snotty Brat Sarutobi Konohamaru_

This was the worst day of his entire life. No matter how hard he tried, it didn't work. The affinity paper in the palm of his hand didn't budge, didn't move, and it just lay there - endlessly mocking him for his non-existent affinity. Ebisu had told them in class today had explained the affinities water, fire, earth and wind, and Konohamaru knew there were a few affinity papers available in the Hokages office. He had snuck there sometimes when his grandfather was alive, even though he had been shunned away so many times, he had seen the affinity papers. So yes, he had stolen a few affinity papers, but he was just borrowing them for a longer period of time.

So when he sat in the dark alley in a corner of Konoha, trying his hardest to make the paper burn, or soak, or turn into wood, or split in half, it didn't work. He felt the slight burning behind his eyes start and he couldn't help it as he started sobbing helplessly, clutching one paper in his hand hard. He couldn't be any less of a shinobi than Oya-bun. He just couldn't. And that blond awesome man, who however had left him to rot in Konoha all alone, had told him that he had the affinity for wind and so he could do cool jutsus, like the powerful Rasengan. Konohamaru knew that there weren't a lot of shinobi that actually had affinities, but all the same, he couldn't see himself _not_ having it. So with tears in his eyes, still sobbing, he tried again. From what he had heard in class that day, one was supposed to stare at the paper, meditate and push chakra into the paper. As Konohamaru did, the paper combusted due to too much chakra infused and he retracted his hand, wincing. But he grit his teeth, snot hanging from his nose though he didn't care. He would have an affinity! He just knew he had one. It was the stupid paper that didn't work.

"You alright there, brat?" A voice interrupted his inner cussing and he looked up in surprise. A woman stood in front of him, her face shadowed due to the sun shining behind her, making her long pink hair luminous as she bent down. Even in the shade of her face, her green eyes clearly looked at him and seemed to pierce his heart. Konohamaru felt snot cling to his upper lip and he was fast to wipe it away in embarrassment.

"You-you! Aren't you the gorilla girl on Oya-bun's team?" He declared, though when he looked at her now, she was nothing like a gorilla. She was a beautiful girl.

"Gorilla?" The pink haired kunoichi snorted. "You're Konohamaru, right? You got close to Naruto, huh." She smiled and Konohamaru felt his hand clench the paper in his hand harder. He didn't answer her, only looked away, pouting.

"Affinity papers? That's why you're crying, brat?" She noted the papers besides him, all crumpled or combusted in his chakra induced anger.

"I'm not crying!" He thrashed and sniffed angrily.  
"I know, I know." She smirked and sat down besides him on the dirty ground, to his surprise. She snatched one paper from the pile, observing it in silence. Konohamaru sniffed, not really knowing what to do. Her gleaming green eyes shone in the shafts of sun light let in to the alley.

"I can see you've combusted a lot of them. Some papers seem untouched by your chakra, even though they're crumpled. I can see you're having problem balancing your chakra induction." She said as she observed the paper in her hand. "You need to be careful, and not let emotions get into your head when you're searching for your affinity in these papers."

"But I'm doing it right! It's just the stupid papers that doesn't work!" Konohamaru shouted, anger clouding his mind. He didn't want to be weak! But when he looked besides him to her, her eyes made his heart stop for a moment. It was like they bore a hole through his head, with sapphire like hardness and coldness. He almost whimpered, as he took in her sharp glare. It was like she told him to shut up and calm down. So he did. He breathed, counted to ten in his head, and his clenched fist relaxed, letting the paper go.

"Now, here." The pink haired kunoichi said as she opened his hand and let an unused paper fall on his palm. "Your chakra - see it as a stream, running in currents through your body. It's a part of you. And when you let your chakra go, let it go slowly. Let it fill the paper with a part of you. Slowly, there. You got it." She said and Konohamaru closed his eyes and he felt his chakra seep into the paper, slowly, carefully. He felt the paper move. The grandson of the former Hokage opened his eyes and saw that the paper had split in half.

"Wind! I got wind!" He cheered, tears almost gathering in his eyes again. "I'm going to beat Oya-bun and become the most awesome Hokage ever!"

The woman besides him smiled and her green eyes gleamed. He didn't think they were so scary anymore.

"Nee-chan, nee-chan! Aren't I awesome?" He asked her and grinned.

"Wasn't it gorilla before?" She smirked. "Yeah, it's great. Not many ninjas have affinities. Congratulations, brat."

"Thanks, Nee-chan! Now it's your turn!" Konohamaru pushed one paper affinity into her palm. There was a hideous, pink horizontal scar across her palm where the paper landed. Konohamaru didn't see it as ugly though; many strong shinobi wore their scars proudly. She seemed to do the same, so he respected her for it.

"I had no response last time I tried." The kunoichi smiled, with a dip of sadness in her voice.

"But maybe it has changed?" Konohamaru tried.  
"Affinities don't change, brat. Nor the inability to have one. See?" She said crookedly and he saw how she pushed chakra into the paper. The scar seemed to almost glow for a second when the chakra induced paper touched it, but then it vanished. A few moments went by and the woman only looked knowingly at Konohamaru. As if she herself had hoped that something would have happened.

"I better get going. See you around, brat." She said shortly and rose up from besides him.  
"B-but-"  
"It didn't work. So, see you." She almost snapped, but gave him a thin smile as well and then disappeared up on the roof tops. Konohamaru only looked at the place she had been a few seconds before, when he saw a movement in the corner of his eye. The paper that the kunoichi had held in her hand moved. With wide eyes, he stared at it. It just... moved. Shook, almost. He didn't know of any affinity that made the paper shake. Suddenly, the paper combusted. It split in half, was soaking wet, then it crumbled like earth from the form and it took on fire but didn't burn up. Then what was left of the paper bled and rotted.

Staring at the bleeding paper, Konohamaru didn't understand what had just happened. What kind of affinity... Or rather, was it all of the affinities combined together that he had witnessed? Konohamaru grumbled as he scooped up the bleeding paper and put it in his pocket. He'd ask one of his classmates to investigate on the paper, one of which he knew was the daughter of the Affinity Paper Maker in the village. A bleeding paper? Who was that gorilla girl?

* * *

_The Prodigy Hyuuga Neji_

He caught her on the street. With whirling pink hair, she turned around to face him when he had called her name. She smiled as she saw him and the Nara walking up towards her on the street, greeting them in return. She wore her black turtle neck top and black hakamas, and she had that cursed sword strapped on her back. It seemed she had just gotten back from one of her visits to Tajima in the later afternoon. A new weapon was probably safely stuffed and sealed in the scroll on her hip.

"You're coming with us." The Nara told her and she smiled as he grumpily went up to her.

"Is that so, little Jounins?" She said and posed with her hand on her hip while smirking. She looked dangerously much like the Godaime in the moment, quirky and cocky.

"We know you don't have any missions today and you have no training scheduled. So, you're coming with us." Neji said and took a gentle hold of her arm, dragging her with him. She didn't disobey, she only looked on with sapphire eyes, and let the two men drag her with them to the Hyuuga Mansion. When they got to the Hyuuga Main house, she was greeted by Lee, Tenten, Ino, Hinata, Kiba, Shino and Choji with a banner and presents.

"Congratulations on turning 16, fartface!" Ino cheered and flung herself on top of the pink haired girl, who acted surprised as she fell down.

"Thanks, Ino-pig." She said as she hugged the blond back, in a heap on the ground. They then celebrated Sakura with a few presents and saké in the late afternoon. She got an exquisite white comb from Ino, which could turn into a butterfly knife if infused with chakra. Sakura gladly accepted it and commented on the cleverness. Ino beamed.

She received a necklace from Lee, it was an unusually pretty necklace with one black magatama in the middle of the thin chain. None had expected Lee to give something like it, but when Sakura accepted the necklace she almost fell to the ground with a shout. Neji smirked; of course, it was a necklace weighing a ton. That explained things. Sakura laughed and said it was a good and pretty gift.

She got a guandao from Tenten, a large pole-like weapon similar to a fauchard. It consisted of a heavy blade with a spike at the back, having irregular serrations that lead the back edge of the blade to the spike. The blade was mounted at the top of a long wooden pole with a pointed metal counter weight used to balance the heavy blade and for striking on the opposite end. It had a clear crimson red sash attached at the joint of the pole and the blade. The blade was deeply curved, much like the shape of a reclining moon. Tenten described it as a weapon used for sweeping cuts where it relies on range and power, and that the considerable weight of the weapon made it a good form of training for the overall conditioning of the body. Sakura was pleased and thanked Tenten.

Several other presents later, Sakura had so many gifts surrounding her she almost disappeared in a flurry of medical scrolls and weapons.

Sakura thanked them all yet again. When they finished up, people left one after another as the night crept into the disappearing day. Until there was only Sakura, Neji and Shikamaru left in one of the Hyuuga Mansions many rooms. The Nara nodded towards Neji, signalling that it was time. Neji smirked and produced his and the Nara's gift for the girl.

"Happy birthday, Sakura." Neji said and gave her the present. Green eyes inspected the gift for a second before she accepted it, turning it around.

"A scroll?" The pinkette asked, smiling.  
"Yeah, I found it in the back of the Hyuuga's library. None has used it for centuries, so I took it. I think it's an animal summoning scroll."

"Yeah, we know you don't have any animal summoning contracts yet, so we thought this would be a good idea. Even though we don't really know what it is." Shikamaru added, looking at Neji. "Was it a kitten?"  
"No, I don't think so. Maybe a lion, or some kind of feline." Neji mused and Sakura only stared at the two of them.  
"Neji, wait. Wait. You stole it?"

"Doesn't matter. It's yours now." The prodigy said and cocked his head. The girl wheezed, closing her eyes in a frown.

"You'll be in a lot of trouble if you're found out." She said, concern visible in her eyes.  
"I'll deal with that if it even happens." Neji replied and smiled. Sakura shook her head but grinned.

"Thank you. I'm so happy." She grinned, looked at the scroll in her hands and then her eyes went distant.

"Hm. Byakko, now is it?" Sakura said dreamily as she looked at the withered scroll. "I hope Genbu and Suzaku will accept you."

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hi peeps!

I'm so so so sorry. I can't write fighting scenes, at all. Maybe in ten, twenty years but definitely not now. Oh, beta reader saviour, where art thou? And maybe I took a leap of faith with Kakashi, I don't know. It was fun to write, either way.

I have no idea when to write the next chapter, life right now is choking me. So many shoulds, woulds and coulds. So bear with me peeps, I'll come back soon!

Love, Fascalia


	9. Colours

**Transition**

Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.  
/Non-Canon, Sakura-centric

* * *

**A/N:**

**Oh, shoot. You guys. This just got to be 11,406 words. Sorry! I got ahead of myself because of the latest ****fkn awesome reviews. Couldn't contain myself. So here you go. A little essay almost. Of 11,406 words.**

* * *

Chapter 9

Through the Eyes of a Black Widow, a Man of Shadows and a Merchant

* * *

_The Black Widow Shizune_

Shizune had no idea what the girl was thinking. She was starting to question the Haruno's mental health, really. Even though the girl had scored perfectly well as a mentally stable shinobi on the regular psychological tests which were required for every shinobi to perform at least once a year, yet Shizune still pondered the possibility of mental issues.

In a little hospital room which was not regularly used Shizune herself, the Haruno girl and Nara Shikamaru huddled together in the small space. Sakura sat on the hospital bed with two vials in her hands, her eyes as steely with determination as ever. Though, Shizune saw, she had not had enough sleep for at least a week. Dark circles under her eyes told Shizune of it, as plain evidence. The Nara mumbled in the corner about this being too troublesome, yet Shizune saw that he wanted to be there. The black haired kunoichi frowned as she stood in front of the girl. But she was actually kind of interested in the girl's experiment, so that was why she found herself attending.

"So this is what will happen. I will insert these vials into my blood stream. The first vial with blue liquid is a regular truth serum with a bit of modulations to the formula I performed in the lab yesterday; after days of constant research of course. I believe the truth serum will work on me, even though I have been trained to not give in to these kind of serums. The second vial with a white liquid contains two different poisons which I have blended together, with your helpful guidance of course, Shizune. I am really grateful for your help, thank you. It's one poison I exerted from a frog and one from a poisonous tarantula from the Forest of Death. Now, what I wish to acquire from this experiment is to make myself rendered listless and whatever I say, it will be true. I have given you the question sheet, Shika. You will act as the interrogator during the experiment. Shizune, if you will, please take notes of what happens to me in medical terms. As well, please make sure I don't die. It would be most inconvenient."

"Inconvenient my _ass_." Shikamaru grumbled from the corner. Sakura smiled gently.

"These truth serum vials were requested from T&amp;I a week ago to the Poison Unit at the hospital, and I took it upon myself to try to make a serum that will make interrogation much less... hard work, if you will. This serum should make prisoners or spies let information flood from their mouths much easier than if their limbs were cut off or if their minds were invaded by a Yamanaka - which all takes a bit of time and unnecessary tools. Time is precious to a shinobi, as you two should know. However, this is the best outcome only, and it's not even certain that it will work." Sakura said and sighed deeply, preparing herself mentally probably. Shizune knew that this experiment very well could end badly for the girl. Yet that stubborn girl had refused to test it on prisoners. She had told them that she wanted to feel what they would feel.

"I'm ready. Are you prepared?" She asked and looked first at Shizune, then at Shikamaru who moved to stand in front of the kunoichi with the sheet of questions in his hand.

"Yeah. And you're stupid." He grumbled, but he still didn't hinder her when she inserted the first vial into her arm. The truth serum. Shizune watched warily as the girl's eyes shimmered blankly when the liquid ran in her blood stream and she dropped the empty vial on the bed. She wobbled slightly, but steadied herself. Her eyes were cloudy.

"Shizune. Can you insert the last vial? I'm not sure I will be able to... prick the right vein." Sakura slurred as the effects of the serum seeped further in her blood stream. Shizune huffed and snatched the white liquid vial from the bed, took a hard hold of the girl's arm and inserted the needle into the bend of her arm and pushed it gently. The white liquid was pressed into the blue vein in her creamy arm. For a moment, the pink haired kunoichi's eyes turned paler, but then they were green and unseeing again. Shikamaru looked on, warily and concerned.

Shizune sat beside the girl on the bed to steady her. Suddenly, the girl grimaced in pain. The poisons seemed to have worked perfectly. The Haruno bit hard on her lip to keep from screaming, biting so hard the skin on her lips broke and blood trailed down her chin. Shizune dabbed the blood away with a tissue as the girl rocked back and forth, her eyes squeezed shut. Shikamaru gripped the paper in his hand hard. He looked at Shizune, questioning her silently if he should start or if they should extract the poison in her veins right away. Shizune inspected the girl, let her hands run across her back. She found the poisons making their way to her brain. Shizune knew the theoretical aspect of it; when the poison reached her brain circuits, the pain would subdue. However, if she answered one question which wasn't true to herself, the pain would explode in her head.

"I think it's fine so far. Wait one minute." Shizune said soothingly, rubbing the girl's back. Sakura clenched her fists in her lap, obviously suffering silently to not scare the two of them. Though that wasn't really necessary, since the two were already concerned as it was. Then, the girl slumped. Her shoulders relaxed and Shizune knew the poisons had reached her brain. The black haired medic held the antidote in her hand, ready to insert it when ten minutes had gone by. If she didn't insert the antidote, the poisons in her brain would expand and make the girl brain dead. And that was the least possible worst scenario.

"Now." Shizune whispered. Shikamaru cleared his throat and looked at Sakura, who dazedly met his gaze. He worried his lip before he asked the first question on the sheet.

"What is your name?"

"Haruno Sakura." She answered, and her voice was surprisingly clear.

"How old are you?"  
"Sixteen since two weeks ago."

"Where were you born?"  
"Konohagakure village." She replied and her green murky eyes were glazed, yet her voice was so apparent and void of uncertainty it surprised both of them. Shizune noted the brain activity in the girl when she grazed her head with probing chakra in her fingers, and then noted a few medical scribbles on the paper block she had been given.

"What is your favourite food?"

"Syrup coated anko dumplings." Sakura answered and Shikamaru almost smiled. Shizune knew why; that favourite food was so not... Sakura.

"Who is our Hokage?"  
"Senju Tsunade."

"What is your greatest regret?" Shikamaru asked, frowning at this. This was a personal question and it might happen that she would lie. He watched her.

"My inability to act." She answered, her head almost bobbing to one side, but Shizune straightened her up.

"What does- wait. I can't ask this!" Shikamaru watched the question sheet in horror. Shizune raised an eyebrow. Was it something embarrassing perhaps?

"Just do it. She gave you the list, right? It's supposed to make her lie." Shizune said and rubbed the girl's back in circles. Shikamaru stared at the paper, swallowed, then looked into the Haruno's blank eyes.

"What does your contract with Izanami state?" He asked lowly, biting his lip as he waited for her reaction. Shizune absentmindedly wondered who Izanami was. It sounded like a contractor of some sort, she pondered as she noted the sudden brain activity within the girl's brain. The Haruno's eyes flashed.

"I-I am.. I am to...k-" The kunoichi huffed as she stuttered, her eyes swimming as she pressed the words out of her mouth with great effort. Shizune was alarmed as the poisons inside her brain stirred and started to invade her sensory nerves. Shizune bit her lips as she knew what this would do to the girl's pain receiving nerves in her central nerve system. With a scream, the girl fell onto the bed, sweating and squealing and squeezing her eyes shut as the pain inside her head took over her body. Shikamaru stood still, speechless. Shizune was fast to take a hold of the girl as she shook and screeched.

"I-I can't!" She shouted and screamed, wriggling in Shizune's grip, thrashing on the bed. When Shizune produced the antidote and pressed it into the vein in her neck, she heard the girl whisper something almost inaudible, with a raspy voice, before her eyes fluttered shut.

"... Thousand men." She whispered and then passed out. Shizune pulled out the rest of the poisons in her veins and tried to extract some from her brain, but it was difficult since she needed to seep the chakra filled with poison out from her ear opening. The poison's expert didn't ponder on what the girl had said, since it seemed to be simple ramblings on her delirious part.

Shikamaru almost fell to the floor in relief, Shizune saw in the corner of her eye, when Haruno passed out and stopped screaming. He went up beside the bed and checked the girl's forehead, stating she had a high fever but with a look at Shizune, he knew she'd be fine. He huffed.

"That insane girl. Neji would kill me if he knew about this. At least the serum worked." He muttered and waved farewell, taking the question sheet with him. Shizune nodded and refocused on the girl. She determined the activity in her brain was stable for now. She wrinkled her nose, the girl was clever but sometimes she wondered if there was a more complex side to her cleverness. She had succeeded in making a truth serum which prevented shinobi from lying, by punishing them every time they lied with indescribable pain directed into their nerve system by the two poisons interacting with the truth serum. But why had she felt the need to lie about a contract?

* * *

_The Man of Shadows Shimura Danzō_

The day slowly went by until the sun was gone from the sky, and was replaced with stars and a reclining, thin and luminous moon. Danzō wandered through the starkly lit corridors of T&amp;I, heading for the Poison's interrogation chamber. He had been waiting for this day; the day the Haruno's first torture would take place. He wondered how she would react after, if she would be capable of executing the atrocities necessary to doom the spy with. He had warned her before hand, two weeks ago, so she could prepare herself mentally for the torture as well as research on different torturing methods.

When he reached the Poison's chamber, there was a scream heard coming from inside the door. He opened the heavy metal door with a heavy clink, and strolled inside the dark room. A man hung from heavy chains in the middle of the room, the chains chafing his wrists bloody and inflamed. The man hung without his feet touching the ground, without a shirt one could see his torso was bloodied and bruised, his dirty head lolling on his chest. It seemed he was unconscious. Three T&amp;I interrogators stood in front of the man, one held a whip, one held a kunai and one held a large bat. The three looked up with pondering expressions as they saw Danzō entering.

Danzō searched the room for the Haruno. He found her standing a few feet away with a blank expression on her face, donning the ANBU guise. Danzō watched with slight confusion as the girl seemed to not have partaken in the torture. She stood very still.

"Danzō-sama." The three interrogators greeted him, their creased brows questioning somewhat. Maybe questioning his presence in T&amp;I. But that would be confusing, since he had filed a request to attend this certain torture session. Or rather, he did have permission to go anywhere within Konoha. He had after all access everywhere.

"Good evening." Danzō returned, yet he walked up to the Haruno. She nodded in a respectful silent greeting. Her green eyes met his, they were dim in the darkness of the Poison's chamber, her white blank mask fastened to the side of her pink head. She wasn't required to hide her facial features inside T&amp;I, he had told her two weeks ago. The mask would only work as a shield towards the prisoner, hiding her from her own actions against him. Not letting her face him full on. It would have hindered her from seeing his pained expressions clearly.

"Why are not Sen partaking in questioning the prisoner?" His voice, filled with authority, rumbled through the dirty chamber. The interrogators flinched.

"But she's just a _girl_!" The one holding the bloodied kunai said, his eyes darting once to Haruno, then back to Danzō.

"I don't even know how she got a pass card to T&amp;I. Or the access passport to this room." One interrogator grumbled, swatting the bat to clear the blood away from it. Blood splattered on the ground.

"I gave it to her. This is her prisoner to question." Danzō's clear voice cut through their mumblings.

"Oh, Danzō-sama. I see. I apologise. We must have missed receiving this information." The interrogator with a kunai bowed, then moved to a metallic table to put down the kunai. The others bowed as well, then placed their torturing tools on the table as well.

"Let her through." Danzō said through clenched teeth. The three interrogators unwillingly let her step up to the man. Haruno walked casually in front of the man.

"What do we have on him?" She asked as she examined his half dead body, trailing her hands along the bleeding slashes caused by the whip.

"Almost nothing." One interrogator mumbled. "ANBU found him spying on the Hokage in her office. He had his presence masked very well, so it had taken a while for ANBU to discover him. When they found him, he had tried to commit suicide by slashing his throat open with a kunai. But one ANBU got to him before he could do it. He was rendered incapacitated and was brought here directly. We have tried to make him spit which village or for whom he works for, but he hasn't said a word in fucking five hours." The interrogator spat on the ground, seemingly growing more frustrated.

"Well, he did say we were all going to die before he passed out." One interrogator added, smiling grimly. Danzō almost raised an eyebrow.

"I see." The Haruno said and went back to her black bag. She produced three vials with different colours of liquid inside. The interrogators watched her warily. Poisons had to be handled with great care and expertise, or the prisoner would die. The Haruno walked up the hanging man and with her left hand started healing the man's wounds on his back. Gasps were heard from the interrogators, objecting her foolish actions loudly, but Danzō raised a hand to stop them from rushing to the girl. They froze.

"Wait. Let us see what happens." Danzō guessed and smirked. From what he knew of Haruno Sakura, she was not a merciful shinobi. There had to be a reason behind her healing the hanging man.

The Haruno didn't even seem to notice the seething, red-faced interrogators. She continued healing the prisoner's broken bones, his bleeding wounds and even the whip slashes on his back and head. When she was finished, the green healing chakra coming to a stop, there was a light sheen of sweat on her arms. It must have taken a lot of her chakra to heal the broken man, Danzō knew. If anything, she was an excellent shinobi. Her only fault was her chakra sources, which were small.

The kunoichi with ANBU clothes then produced one of the three vials. She inserted it into his neck and with a gasp as she pressed it, the man shot his head up from his chest and his eyes were wide eyed as he rocked back and forth from the sudden movement. He skimmed the room with blood shot eyes, his pupils having expanded visibly, and then he found the kunoichi in front of him. He looked down on his body, the dislodged sockets in his arms seemingly not disturbing him, seeing his torso healed and as good as if it had been left untouched. His eyes then went up to meet the pink haired ANBU in front of him, eyeing her suspiciously. He said nothing.

Sakura checked his eyes, noted that he was conscious and the adrenaline in his blood stream was maintained. She turned around to meet the gazes of the men in the room.

"I gave him adrenaline. This serum will make him stay awake for the next three hours by levelling his adrenaline levels, no matter how much pain he will go through he will stay awake. It will make it a lot easier to interrogate him." She explained and the men in the room nodded absentmindedly. Danzō approved of her way of thinking. It was not something new, adrenaline being used to make the prisoners stay awake, but three hours had not been heard of before.

"I assume you have made changes to the adrenaline serum? Is that wise?" On interrogator asked, his dark blue eyes looking at the ANBU warily.

"It is wise, since I have enough knowledge about serums and poisons to do it." She said, green eyes piercing the blue eyed man. "I was the apprentice of the Hokage for one year. She taught me a lot of useful concoctions before she dismissed me." The girl blatantly confessed, earning surprised faces of the interrogators. They remained silent after this. The Haruno then resumed to inspect the man by turning around her attention, her hands running across his sweating body. It seemed she determined there was no changes in his heart beat and that the adrenaline insertion had worked.

"These," she said as she picked up the two last vials, "are a successful experiment I researched and made during the last two weeks. The first vial, the one containing the blue liquid, is a truth serum. The second, the one with the white liquid, contains two mixed poisons. They will interact well with each other and blend accordingly."

She didn't turn around as she continued talking, inserting the blue liquid into the prisoner's neck. The man hanging by his wrists tried to wriggle away, but he couldn't. Her grip was hard on his arm as she pressed the last of the blue truth serum into his blood stream. The man's eyes widened, then blurred and it seemed like he had turned blind. His expression relaxed and his mouth opened in listlessly. He shrunk in his hanging position and his head tilted to his arm for support.

"Most shinobi have gained a resistance towards truth serums." The blue eyed interrogator questioned. Danzō saw the man frown, folding his arms over his chest.

"I have modulated this one a bit. Together with the poisons, he won't be able to do anything else but tell us the truth." Sakura replied and the prisoner grimaced. It seemed the hanging man had realised the dire situation he was in, Danzō thought with a grim smirk.

"I don't like this." The prisoner wheezed, his voice thin and rough from not having been used for hours. The interrogators drew a deep breath. The prisoner had actually talked.

"You might want to cover your ears." The Haruno directed the hint to the interrogators, who only showed her slightly puzzled looks. She sighed and then gripped the last vial, the one with the milky liquid, and pushed it into the prisoner's neck. When she pulled it out, there was an oppressing silence pressing the room. The hanging man's eyes widened so much Danzō thought they might plop out. In a withheld breath, they waited for his response. And then it came.

The man screamed, and screamed so loudly even Danzō felt his eardrums vibrate painfully. The agony and terror in the hitched screams and sobs made the other men in the room flinch. What kind of poison could make a man scream like that? It sounded almost animalistic, with rough screeching and high pitched squeals in a chaotic cacophony of suffering. The man didn't cry, he only screamed, squeezing his eyes shut as he rocked back and forth, stretching against the chains chafing his raw skin. The blisters on his wrists started to bleed against the metal chains.

The pink haired ANBU only looked at the distressed man who sounded like he was dying. Danzō noted the grimness of her having inserted adrenaline into the man. It meant the prisoner could not pass out, none the matter the overwhelming pain his brain seemed to receive. It was clever. But he had yet to see it functioning.

The Haruno girl walked up to the man and stretched her hands up to his head, only to let her fingers touch his temples on either side. Then glowing chakra seeped from her fingers into his head. The T&amp;I interrogators watched her.

"Explain. What is happening to the prisoner? I hope he is not dying." One seethed through clenched teeth. The other nodded in agreement.

"He is not dying. I'm pressing his sensory nerves in the temple that sends jolts of pain reduction into his body, since the poisons are making their way up to his brain. The pain and screaming will subdue when the poisons reaches the central nerve system in his brain. Right now though, he feels like he's burning up. And maybe that someone is shattering his bones and skinning his flesh, I don't know particularly what he is feeling. But that's how I felt when I tried it." She explained as the screaming started to fade, but his eyes were still squeezed shut. He shook as he hung from the chains.

"Wait a minute. You tried a _torturing_ technique on _yourself_?" One interrogator blurted.

"Yes? How else would I know that it would work?" She answered, without turning her back to look at them. The hanging man coughed, and the screams faded to a stop. He was sweating profusely but he cracked his glazed eyes open.

"Test it instead on a prisoner, for god's sake." The blue eyed interrogator countered, snorting. Yet his eyes watched her warily.

"That is unnecessary. A prisoner who is not meant to be interrogated should not be rendered a mere test subject."

"You are one strange kunoichi. Now, try making him talk. None of us succeeded before you, so I swear I'll eat my own bandana if you are able to make him talk." The interrogator spat on the ground. His bandana covering his hair was quite thick and grey.

"That's a bet." She smirked as she pressed her fingers into the prisoner's temple again, concentrating as she closed her eyes with a frown. The man had stilled and his eyes were open, unseeing and shining.

"Who are you?" The ANBU asked her first question. The men waited in appreciation, the silence heavy in the interrogation room. Then, after a few seconds, the hanging man looked at the kunoichi and answered her.  
"Nakara Yukiko." The man answered and one interrogator scrambled to the metal table and got hold of a pen and a paper, fast scribbling down the acquired information. Danzō blinked. The man didn't seem to be lying. He was telling the truth, maybe because of the truth serum with modifications. Maybe the poisons made him talk as well? Danzō didn't know the more medical aspects of it, but he was mesmerised all the same.  
"How old are you?" Sakura continued, still holding her fingers at his temples.  
"Twenty six years old this April."

"What is your favourite food?"  
"Omusubi with okaka."

"Wait. Why are these questions necessary?" The interrogator with the paper looked up with a confused face. The Haruno sighed and turned around to pierce his eyes with her own.

"It is part of the procedure." She wheezed and then turned back to the dreamy looking prisoner and spy.

"Who was your first love?" She asked, her eyes set on his facial features as she let her fingers probe his brain activity.  
"Masahi Hijikata."

"Where were you born?"  
"In Rain Country." The man drawled and the interrogators, as well as Danzō himself, made a mental note. The country had recently been ravished by a rebellion and a new leader had taken on the mantle of protecting its people. Very little was known about this man, but not many considered Rain Country as a possible threat. They were known for always being in the middle of two villages or countries clashing together, leaving Rain Country in ruins.

"Which weapon do your prefer?" The pinkette continued to press as she bit her lip.  
"Kunai." The prisoner drawled as he looked at her with unseeing eyes.

"Who do you look up to the most?" The woman asked, this time Danzō knew it was a good question. Often times, shinobi respected their leader and looked up to them.  
"Pein-sama." When the man answered this, Sakura's eyes snapped open.

"Who is Pein-sama?" She asked carefully, not letting her voice drop tempo or change.

"Our beloved leader, our saviour. He will make peace to our filthy world." The man declared, admiration visible in his raspy voice. The interrogators mumbled amongst themselves, but Sakura hushed them.

"What does he look like?" She asked as her eyes watched him calmly.

"He has many faces." The man answered dreamily, not really answering her question. Sakura irritably wiped sweat off her forehead, breathed, then continued.

"Would you describe one face?"  
"Yes." He said, and nothing more. This puzzled the girl until she realised there were limits to the truth serum and the poisons combined. She pressed her fingers lightly against his temple.

"Describe one of his faces." She changed the question.  
"He has carrot coloured hair. His eyes are a divine colour of violet and there are circles delving deeper into the middle of his pupil. He has many black piercings adorning his godly features. He dons a black cloak with red clouds sewn at the hem. And-"  
"Wait. Describe the cloak again." Sakura's eyes widened as she asked, her voice almost trembling. The men in the room were silent. The trade mark red clouds. Everyone knew what that could mean.

"The cloak is black and long, it covers most of the body. There are several scarlet coloured clouds, looking like they were drawn traditionally, which are sewn at the hem of the cloak. It is the cloak that defines the beloved and powerful Gods of our Country."

"What... are the gods of your country called?" Sakura's voice didn't tremble, but excitement was visible in her body language as she leaned closer to the man with glazed eyes.

"_Akatsuki_."

Danzō snapped his head up. Akatsuki? The old war veteran took in this information slowly, as he deliberated. Had their organisation taken over a whole country? The possibility existed, yet it was hard to believe. Danzō felt his heart thump one extra beat. He had the knowledge of the Akatsuki leader's name - Pein. And he had the knowledge of their base - Rain Country. All this, thanks to the pink haired kunoichi. Information was power, and she held it securely in her hand. The interrogators shuffled around worriedly, chattering amongst themselves. Only Danzō heard Sakura continue the flurry of questions.

"What colour did your mother have on her hair?" The ANBU asked the hanging man lowly.  
"Brown." He answered, a faint smile on his lips.

"What was your mission in Konohagakure village?" Sakura asked the last important question. Danzō's ears perked.

"To-to gather... I-in..." The man stuttered suddenly, then he violently shook. Sakura took a step back as he started swinging his body in pain and then he started screaming again. He had tried to lie. Danzō thought the man was only to blame himself for it. The poisons in the man's brain stirred and created chaos, the man's nerves were probably set on fire and Danzō could see the internal fight of the man. The fight between life and death battling inside him.

The ANBU sighed and then produced a fourth vial. Danzō guessed it was some kind of antidote, and so he flash-stepped to stand beside her. His hand holding her arm down, preventing her form using the antidote. The look in Danzō's eye probably told the girl enough, since she obeyed and put the antidote back inside her bag. The prisoner hanging from metallic chains in the roof screamed one last time.

"Nakara Yukiko. Confirmed dead. Number... one hundred sixty eight." The ANBU kunoichi mumbled as the hanging man collapsed, his head lolling on his chest as it had done when he had been unconscious. The only difference being now, that he was forever asleep. Danzō didn't really understand the number she had announced, but he thought it didn't matter.

The shinobi in the room filtered out, the interrogators to call for clean up and one to run to the archives of received information with what they had gathered from the shinobi of Rain. Tsunade would know about the incident within a few minutes, Danzō presumed. The Haruno looked absentmindedly away into the depths of the corridor, her eyes being distant. Danzō recalled his first torture session in T&amp;I. He hadn't felt bad about the torturing, but he hadn't felt good about it either. He had been quite indifferent.

"Haruno. Come with me." Danzō said sternly and walked to the staircase of the far end of the corridor. The kunoichi let nothing show on her face, yet he could tell she was confused. They walked down it and found themselves in a cellar. It stank of rotting flesh. Danzō continued through the cells of T&amp;I and when they had walked farthest away in the corridors, they went inside an old cell at a corner. It was dirty, and rats scurried past their feet when they moved inside. Danzō performed a seal and a few hand signs, too quick for the girl to see, and then a door appeared in the cell. Danzō tried the handle and walked inside as the door creaked open, followed closely by the kunoichi.

They stood in a windy space. It was old and ancient almost, Danzō knew, and last time he had been here he had tried to summon an old Heavenly Animal King. It hadn't worked and it had left him with large and deep claw marks on his skin, which he covered with bandages to hide the hideous proof of his failure and weakness. Danzō found the old powerful scroll right where he had left it so many years ago. The altar, in the middle of the large space, seemed almost to glow as they neared it. The withered scroll lay elegantly on the marble altar. Sakura looked at it with respect and admiration with wide eyes, and Danzō was pleased at this. She seemed to know about the Heavenly Animal scrolls, of which the majority of the shinobi population did not.

"I attempted to summon this Animal King twelve years ago. I failed. But I believe you might be able to summon it." Danzō cleared his throat and looked at the kunoichi. Her eyes shone in the dim light of the fires at the sides of the room. "However, it is your choice. I barely survived trying to summon it, and I received these in the process."

Danzō slowly removed the bandage on his head. He revealed the large claw marks and Sakura almost gasped he saw, but she bit it down. Danzō knew they were deep and tinted with red blotches, since they had ravaged his head in an almost unrepairable way. The Haruno discerned the claw marks cautiously. The man of shadows sniffed, then wrapped the bandages back into place and looked at the scroll at the marble white altar with a hint of nostalgia in his mind.

"It requires amounts of chakra, control and discipline." He added.

"I will try, Danzō-sama." The kunoichi whispered as she made her way up to the altar, stepping on the staircase of stone lightly, and in an almost ceremonious way. Danzō watched as she carefully lifted the scroll from the white, dusty stone table and held it in front of her as she inspected it. "Thank you, Danzō-sama, for showing me." She said louder this time. The bandaged man nodded.

"Try to summon it on a large field, preferably not in Konohagakure. It might induce damage to the infrastructure. There is always a risk that it will explode or burst into fire."

"Sounds like fun." A gleeful smirk hinted on her pink lips as she carefully put the scroll into her bag. Danzō smirked - he almost always found himself wondering if she was a little bit insane, and then waved his hand towards the door, leading them out from the ancient room of haunted memories and battles forgotten.

"Back to training, Haruno." He said and walked strictly out of the door, hearing her light steps follow him willingly.

"Yes, Danzō-sama."

* * *

_The Prodigy Hyuuga Neji_

He saw her waiting for him outside of the training area. She stood casually at the entrance to the grounds, wearing a loose black top and a beige skirt which showed her slender creamy legs. And as always nowadays, her black katana was strapped on her back. It seemed like she went nowhere without it. Neji had a towel around his shoulders, wiping the sweat off his neck and he sniffed. The white top he wore clung tightly to his chest, the sweat having soaked it.

"Hey there, sweaty." She said and grinned as the Hyuuga muffled a greeting with the towel. "Want to grab a coffee later? I'm free for two hours." She asked when she walked besides him as they went up to the streets of Konoha, away from the training grounds near the Forest of Death.

"Yes, why not. I'll just go and freshen up first. See you in twenty minutes?"  
"Sure, meet up at Black Gold?" She said as she started to walk away, heading for the Markets.

"It's a deal." Neji agreed and waved at her disappearing form in the crowds of people on the street. The last he saw of her was a flash of pink, before a family walked in front of her, hiding her from his ever seeing eyes.

When Neji had showered and changed clothes at an inhuman speed - he might have broken several world records in speed-showering, he found himself waiting in line at the coffee shop Hinata had claimed to be the best in Konoha. He had yet to find out if this was true. He ordered his coffee black and saw a bob of pink hair outside the shop, through the large window. He walked out into the late afternoon sunlight and there she was, sitting with a book and a coffee cup in the open-air café. She had her hair pinned in a very messy bun, which made her petal hued hair fall in cascades down on her shoulder. She looked up and smiled when she heard his foot steps.

"Your hair is still wet." She said and smirked. Neji snorted and sat down in front of her, placing his steaming black coffee on the rounded glass table.

"It gets like that when I spray water on it." He said and his eyes found the book she had abandoned at his arrival. 'Chakra Enhanced Protection of Inner Organs - Possible or Not'?

"That book looks interesting." He noted and sipped from his coffee. The black gold was hot and almost burnt his tongue, but he flourished in the bitterness and complex taste of it. It caressed his tongue with jagged hotness and some kind of flavour, likened to dark chocolate, mint and cherries. He understood why Hinata had claimed this coffee shop to be the best in Konoha.

"It is. You can borrow it later if you want. You like the coffee?" Sakura smiled and those apple green eyes searched his face for a hint of pleasure. But his complexion, as always, remained steely and indifferent. It was so practiced he no longer thought about his expression. In a stark contrast to Sakura, she was so full of emotions and always let them show. He sniffed.  
"It's plausible."  
"Oh, come on Neji! That is the best coffee you ever had, or will have."

"Perhaps. It's got an interesting taste and certain edge, that I will approve of."

"Legend says they mix rainbows, star dust and unicorns into it while brewing." She said dramatically and sipped from her own coffee and almost squealed in delight. Neji smirked, he let himself to do so. Then he was reminded of the latest gossips within the Hyuuga mansion's maid section.

"That's right. Sakura, I've been hearing a lot of rumours lately, about different reasons why Tsunade dismissed you as her apprentice. But I want to hear from you directly. What happened between you two?" Neji asked, eyeing the kunoichi in front of him. Sakura blinked.  
"Ah. We had a huge fight. And I figured I didn't want to be a Medic, so she said I could as well learn from someone else. So she dismissed me." The Haruno closed her eyes and sipped some more from her coffee cup she held dearly in her hands. Neji almost snorted.  
"Really? I must admit, you have come to be a better liar lately, Sakura." His pearly eyes focused directly on her verdant ones.  
"Never works with you, now does it?" She chuckled. "But I'm sorry, Neji. That is the official version and I need to keep it true that way."

"I see... Then, I won't probe any further. You have your own reasons, I presume. I heard you sparred with Hatake Kakashi the other week, by the way. How'd it go?"

"A bit like expected. I didn't manage to take the two bells." She chewed on her lip and stared into the depths of her coffee cup.  
"But you succeeded in snatching one, right?" He grinned. He had heard that much at least.  
"Yes, I did. And.." She leaned closer to him, her eyes shining with smugness. Neji tilted his head near her. "I got to see his face!" She whispered excitedly in his ear, as if it was a secret miracle. Neji smiled and shrugged his shoulders, leaning back on his stool.

"That has to be the achievement of the decade, Sakura." He quipped.  
"It _is_! And you know what? He doesn't have a disfigured face or a goatee. He's actually _really_ handsome!" She cheered, and was that a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks?, as she sipped from her coffee almost shyly. Neji felt ice settle in his stomach. Was that Kakashi so handsome as to give _Sakura_ a blush?

"Didn't you say he had conditions for you too?" He asked, turning the direction of the conversation to anything that wouldn't make him want to punch something.  
"Oh, yeah. I was to apologise to Tsunade-shishou because of my recent 'behaviour'." The Haruno drawled and rolled her eyes.

"That seems like a good idea, actually. Whatever reason you have for arguing with her, it's never especially clever to be so openly hostile towards the village's own Hokage. People will look at you disapprovingly." Neji explained and sipped from his coffee. He began to understand more and more the concept of 'Black Gold' as the amount of his coffee slowly disappeared from his cup.

"I know, I know. I'll do it soon, in a very open and polite fashion." She grumbled, yet agreed.

"Sounds good." Neji smiled and looked up into the sky. It was a clear day, with no clouds in sight. The sun shone starkly through the canopy of the nearby tree, the large tree that covered the display of 'Black Gold' coffee shop. He let the sun caress his skin with closed eyes. He breathed in the fresh air, it smelt like leaves and newly cut grass blended with the soft spicy scents that drifted with the breeze to the coffee shop from the lively Markets. When he opened his opalescent eyes he found Sakura looking at him. When he caught her gaze, she turned her eyes away quickly.

"What is it?" He asked, frowning. Why had she looked at him... like that?

"Nothing. I just thought you looked so peaceful. It's... You have changed since the Chunin exams." Sakura said and smiled, turning her gaze back to his. Apple green eyes took softly in his slightly surprised expression. Neji cleared his throat.  
"And so have you. I still remember your fight with the Yamanaka. If it had taken place today, the outcome would have been very different." Neji answered and felt a bit nostalgic. How much everyone had changed. How the circumstances had made them change. How different he was in his approach to the Main House. His hatred for them was still there, for _him_, it was seething, yet it had been numbed somewhat. It made it easier for him to interact with the Main House, which was necessary if his plan on becoming the Clan Head was to come to fruition. He had planned it for years. To change the standards and traditional and conservative way of thinking within the Clan if he became the Head. The question was if Hinata would prove to be sufficient enough to mantle the position, or if the Elders saw him as the prodigy he was and decided to give it to him instead.

"Maybe." Sakura smiled and drank the last of her coffee. "I need to go. I have a mission tonight in a village bordering to Fire, so I need to get going. Haven't packed yet."

"I see. Which rank?" The Hyuuga asked and flipped a few hair strands away from his face.  
"It's classified." She smirked and swiftly stood up, and she stretched her back like a feline. Neji sighed, yet didn't move. He wanted another cup of coffee and he had still a few hours before he was to meet with Hiashi about the annual meetings with the Hyuuga Elders.

"You and your secrets. Be safe." He muttered into his coffee cup. Sakura waved at him with a last faint smile, left the book she had read before in front of him and hopped up on the building of the coffee shop, fast disappearing from view. Neji rose and ordered another cup of rainbows and star dust, then delved into the depths of theories regarding chakra enhanced organs.

* * *

_The Cloud Watching Boy Nara Shikamaru_

When he went inside Ichiraku's, bowing his head under the fabric sheet at the entrance, he heard a familiar tingling laughter. His eyes searched for the source and found it at the bar, where an outrageous hair colour stood out in stark contrast from the rest of the dull crowd. He muttered 'troublesome' under his breath but all the same, he found himself walking up to her. As usual, the cursed katana was blatantly strapped on her back. The Haruno sat with a man Shikamaru recalled as Shiranui Genma, he recognised him because of the famed senbon which was at the corner of his mouth. Sakura turned around, as if she had felt him in the cacophony of chakras, and grinned widely.

"Shika!" She squealed and hugged him. He hesitantly returned the hug with a pat on her back, a questioning look at Genma who only returned his gaze with a shrug and a smile. Sakura was never prone to intimate displays of affection. Shikamaru concluded she had had a little too much beer.

"Sakura, hello." He muffled from her pink hair. She let go and ordered him to sit beside her on the bar stool. He obeyed and sat at the wooden stool which creaked slightly.

"What are you doing here? I thought tea, shogi and cloud watching was your only hobbies." She asked and her eyes glittered. The Haruno then sniffed and ordered a beer for him, putting it on her own tab. Shikamaru let her and sighed.

"I have come to enjoy grabbing a beer after missions. Since I became Jounin, the Strategist &amp; Intelligence department and those T&amp;I bastards has been on my tail ever since. So I spend my days trying to avoid them from recruiting me openly, in which case I have an obligation to say yes, and, well, I go on missions almost all the time as well. A beer is calming for my nerves. I usually meet up with Asuma but this day he had some kind of date with Kurenai. Such a drag." Shikamaru explained as the bartender gave him a pint. Sakura nodded and smiled.

"I see. Oh, how rude of me! This is Genma, say hi Genma," she prodded and patted Genma on the head, who grinned amusedly, "and this is Shika! Or, uh, Shikamaru."

"Good to meet you, Genma." Shikamaru greeted and nodded with his head.

"You as well, 'Shika'." The man with a senbon in his mouth waved with his hand. "I better get going, I have an early A-rank mission tomorrow. See you, Sakura. Shika." Genma said and hopped off the bar stool. The Nara wrinkled his nose. If Sakura's nickname for him spread like a wild fire after this he would jump off the Hokage mountain.

"Catch you later, Genma! Have fun at the mission." Sakura cheered and turned to Shikamaru as she drank from her beer and Genma disappeared in the crowds. The Nara noted how Sakura had said 'have fun' rather than 'stay safe'.

When the girl turned towards him, he noticed the bandages covering her body. She wore a too large beige sweater and loose black hakamas, yet when she moved her arms and legs hints of bandages underneath the fabric was seen on her skin. Her skin was flushed and raw.

"Another Tsunade explosion?" He smirked and pointed at her bandages.

"One could say." She laughed. "No, I have been training. It's been quite excessive."

"Having yourself that injured during training might not be too good an idea. What if you were requested on a mission tomorrow? You wouldn't stand a chance at a Genin, Sakura."

"Nah, won't happen. I have a few privileges." She chirped and twirled a pink lock around her finger. Shikamaru only watched her.

"Really?" He chuckled. "Who have you been training with?"

"Uh. It's kind of classified. But I call him Mr. Shady." Sakura said with flushed cheeks. Now Shikamaru was certain the girl had consumed one too many beers.

"Classified? Oh, why am I not surprised anymore." Shikamaru commented and sighed deeply. As he leaned back into the bar stool, he saw something scribbled on Sakura's shoulder when her too large sweater slipped down her right arm. In a flash, she had the sweater up over her shoulder, looking away into the crowds, covering her arm. Avoiding his gaze, Shikamaru presumed.

"Hey, is that a tattoo?" Shikamaru asked and he saw how she bit her lip hard. Probably cursing her recklessness. The Nara was definitely not a non-perceptive man. He had known all along that there was something going on with the girl, except for the Izanami part which he knew about obviously. Heck, all things were going on with that troublesome girl. And now he guessed and concluded she had been appointed ANBU, which all made sense. The tattoo on her arm, which he swore looked like the same the ANBU donned on their skins, and her harsh training, her secrecy and her constant disappearances on unrequested missions. It made sense and it was somewhat logical.

"Oi, don't be offended. I guess it was just a wound. You'd never get a tattoo, I know." He declared, sniffed and then Sakura looked at him finally, clenching her sweater hard. Her apple green eyes pierced him and she knew he knew, and he let the subject drop. He was not surprised she was ANBU, however strange that might sound. He knew she had the intelligence, the strategic part down, she had the strength and the medical knowledge necessary. One would be dumb not to appoint her ANBU. He guessed the open argument with Tsunade was just for show, an act of defiance, though for what purpose he didn't know.

"What's up lately? Do you still have those dream sequences with the demon?" Shikamaru steered the conversation elsewhere, though he didn't know if the subject was just as difficult. Yet she had told him about her dreams before, so he figured it was fine to ask. He sipped his beer.  
"Oh, yeah. I do. Izanami's still pissed at you and Neji though. You know, about that thing when you tried to burn her up." The Haruno smirked and Shikamaru scoffed. There was a slight hum from the katana on her back, but he decided to ignore it.

"Well, she should have expected something like that."

"She didn't. What's done is done." Sakura said dramatically and waved her hands.

"So, what happens nowadays? You said you won the dream-war before and then you woke up from the coma." He asked, his black eyes squinting at her.

"She decided to train me herself after that. She deemed me 'hard' enough for it. We're no longer in the battlefield, we're in some kind of clearing each night. There are no people in sight. She has an extensive arsenal of weapons stashed in a bush. We go through each weapon and train with them until she deems me sufficient with them. Last night we did the guandao, which was actually quite fun."  
"So the training is easier, I presume? Since you seem to enjoy it."  
"Not really. She kills me each night, still. It's just that... I have gotten so used to it by now. It's painful and it sucks, but I've gotten numb to the feeling."  
"Oh. That sounds troublesome. The killing part, I mean." Shikamaru said, looking down on his hands.

"Yeah. It's a pain in the ass." Sakura hiccuped and then they left the subject. The rest of the night they talked about the current political climate in Tea, where there were many interesting conspiracies taking place as well as the development of a new system of rule. Shikamaru enjoyed the conversations he had with the girl and when he went to sleep hours later at home with a flush apparent on his ears, he closed his eyes with a smile.

* * *

_The Flourishing Merchant Ukeno Tajima_

A knock was heard on his front door and he just knew, it was just that gut feeling, that he would see petal hued hair today. He opened the door tiredly and just as he had suspected, there she was. Her grin almost knocked him over. Had she gotten even more beautiful and scary since last time?

"Hello, Tajima-san. I have a favour to ask of you." She said and tilted her head innocently.

"What is it, Cherry?" He sighed and invited her inside his office. She strutted after him, all flowing hair and glittering verdant eyes.

"That reminds me. Did you ever mention your nickname for me to the Bingo Book researchers?" She asked and creased her eye brows. Tajima flinched.

"It... might have slipped my mouth. But Cherry is rather fitting, don't you think?" He tried.  
"It's better than 'Pink Haired Banshee'." She agreed and nodded to herself. Tajima sighed in relief.

"True. Now, what do you want?"

"I know you own large parts of the field outside of this village. Would you mind if I borrowed it for a while?" She chirped and smiled innocently.

"I hope I won't mind. Just don't blow it up or whatever." The merchant absentmindedly pinched the bridge of his nose. This girl.  
"That is wonderful! Thank you, Tajima-san!"

"But I will need to be there. I have some time off and to make sure you don't do anything foolish, I want to be there." He said, stating it as harshly he could.  
"I get your point. I am borrowing it, after all. But I'll need to have you promise me on your life that you won't talk about what will happen today." Her eyes flashed emerald and he gulped.

"Of course, Cherry."

They walked slowly to the fields and Tajima noticed four scrolls strapped on the kunoichi's thighs, two for each leg. They looked really old and then he recognised the scroll he had given her some month ago. The Vermillion Bird. He shivered. So she was planning on summoning the fire animal, as well as three others he didn't know of. But if he knew the pink haired banshee, they were most probably just as dangerous. He didn't know if he regretted following after her.

They reached the fields and the pink haired kunoichi laid the four summoning scrolls on the ground. She looked over her shoulder at Tajima and he felt a sliver of sweat run down his back.

"For your own safety, Tajima-san, I suggest you step back." Her voice cut through the air to his ears and he only nodded, as he jogged to a tree pretty far away. He could still see her clearly from where he stood underneath the tree and he could still hear her mumbling different seal combinations. She saw he was far away when she looked around, and then she started making different seals with her hands, too fast for the merchant to follow with civilian eyes. There was a blur and then she bowed down to the first scroll. When she bowed down, Tajima saw her pink hair fall gently away from her shoulders down on her chest, and then the nape of her neck was clear of hair.

He was quite surprised, as he saw four rhombus formed tattoos in the nape of her neck. Horizontally, they adorned her spine with different colours. He saw the one closest to her neck was an azure like colour and the largest one, the second was crimson, the third was white and the last he made out to be black. As she touched the first scroll on the ground, she bit her thumb and streaked her blood on it at the scribbled seals, the black rhombus on her neck started to glow. It _glowed_, like smouldering charcoal. With a small screech, the pink haired banshee fell to the ground. The black rhombus flashed, grew in size and the Tajima saw actual chakra flood from the rhombus to the scroll. A deafening boom was made and a geyser of dust flew up into the air. Tajima coughed. When the dust cleared slowly, he saw a large dark figure stand in front of the fallen kunoichi.

"Hello, girlie. What is going on? There are no fun enemies near, except for a rat perching at the tree over there."  
"Oh, that's just Tajima. Don't care about him. I have a surprise for you. Or rather, three surprises."  
"Hm?" The largest tortoise Tajima had ever seen chuckled and the ground almost shook. Genbu. The Dark Warrior, one of the Celestial Beasts.

"Let's get this over with." The kunoichi clenched her teeth and bit both of her thumbs this time and she performed another flurry of seals which Tajima didn't catch. Then, she pressed both her thumbs on the two other ancient scrolls. A crackling noise was heard, as if lightning had stricken, and then the merchant saw the white and the red rhombus in her neck glow. The same thing happened again. Two geysers shot up into the sky and Tajima coughed twice. The dust didn't settle, and animalistic sounds was heard. He saw the Haruno bite her thumb hard, one last time, and a lot of blood flowed and dripped down on her arm. The largest rhombus at the nape of her neck, the azure one, glowed starkly and shone almost. She streaked her blood on the last scroll and a lightning cracked the sky into two.

The kunoichi screamed in pain but she continued with her seals. When she was finished, she slumped heavily on the ground, not moving. The dust in the air was suddenly flapped away by two large, beautiful vermillion wings. What stood in front of Tajima at that moment was almost too hard for him to comprehend. Genbu, the Dark Warrior, the large black tortoise. Suzaku, the Vermillion Bird. Byakko, the White Tiger. And then lastly, what appeared from the dust and revealed scales and horns and glittering colours of an azure ocean, was Seiryu - the Azure Dragon. Tajima whimpered and fell speechless to his knees.

The Heavenly Animals took in each other's appearances.

"Oh." The white tiger said in surprise, his white fur rippling with muscles underneath.

"Fancy meeting you here, my brethren." The black tortoise grumbled with an amused tone.

"I never would have imagined that we would be gathered again like this." The tiger, Byakko, grinned. Sharp white teeth glistened in the sun light.

"It has been around a thousand years since we last met." Genbu stated and looked at his heavenly brothers. The dragon, who stood in the middle on his four muscled legs, was silent. He observed with clear blue predatory eyes.

"Gracious me. I would not have minded another thousand years until our reunion." The vermillion bird declared and looked around at the field.

"That was not very nice, Suzaku." The black turtle snarled, yet he seemed to find it amusing as he moved his wide head to tilt to one side.

"I believe it is quite good to see you all alive again, no matter what Suzaku might say. And you're as hideous as ever, Genbu." The enormous white tiger roared and the black tortoise gave a snort, yet didn't respond. The gigantic vermillion bird nodded with his beak.

"Yes, it was a most uncertain situation last time." Suzaku, the vermillion bird, slowly turned his head. Tajima felt his breath hitch. The largest bird he had ever seen looked at the pink haired kunoichi slumped on the ground. She groaned a bit and Tajima saw blood seep from her eyes, ears, nose and mouth. She looked like she was on the verge of dying, and the seals in her neck were gone, and even Tajima knew she had exhausted her chakra sources even though he couldn't feel it. The pink haired girl rose shakily and looked up at the Four Celestial Beasts. Her eyes widened slightly, then she grinned with blood smeared on her face. As if she was reminded of something, she hastily bowed deeply to each and every King, almost falling when she bowed to Seiryu. None of the animals said anything.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I have summoned you to ask if you would like to accompany me for some time as summons." She said, and her voice didn't waver, yet her body seemed to almost fall apart. Tajima couldn't understand how she could still stand on her own two feet.

"Do you intend to hold _four_ contracts of the Heavenly Kings, you puny human?" The vermillion bird snorted and scoffed, irritably flapping his wing to further state his disapproval.

"That is one flamboyant hair colour." The tiger noted and grinned, the sharp teeth sending shivers down Tajima's spine.  
"I like her. She is feisty. Just look at that little bloody mess." Genbu rumbled and chuckled.  
"She's too similar to you, Genbu. All bloodthirst and no grace, I can smell it." The vermillion bird sneered and elegantly flapped with his large wing. "You are one greedy human. Is not even one contract of the Heavenly Kings enough for you?"

Tajima saw how the Haruno was about to answer, when an azure tail snaked through the clearing and the large, beautiful dragon stood in front of the little girl, towering over her petite form. The merchant knew if he had been her, he would have fallen. Yet she didn't. She stood and faced a dragon, for god's sake, straight on. Where was her fear?

"I see your _Will of Fire_ imprinted into the depths of your heart. I agree to being in a contract with you, Haruno Sakura." The azure dragon Seiryu said lowly and it was as if diamonds clinked together in Tajima's ears, creating clear musical pieces that could never be described with plain words. The azure dragon pecked at his tail with one of his large claws, drew blood, and let drops of it fall on his own summoning contract.

"Well, if Seiryu is going to sign it, so will I. I trust his judgement of humans with the pride of my black patterns on my white fur." Byakko roared lowly, bit his paw with his sharp teeth and blood flowed and then he put his it on his own summoning scroll, smearing his blood together with the kunoichi's.

"I am already in a contract with her. She is amusing." Genbu chuckled.

"Are you all insane? What is so special about this female human? I should just kill her for even trying to summon us!" Suzaku disagreed and looked around at his royal brothers. Tajima whimpered again, feeling his knees scrape against the ground.

"Have you not even bothered to look into the vivacity of her heart, Suzaku?" Byakko grumbled, changing his stance so his muscles strained underneath the fur.

"Pft. Is that even necessary? I don't perch just anywhere." The bird chirped.

"Look at her, Suzaku." Seiryu's dark voice was cold like ice and sliced the atmosphere, diamond clinging against ruby. The vermillion bird blinked at the azure dragon, then turned his deep yellow slits of eyes onto Sakura. His burning amber eyes seemed to pierce into her soul, as she stood shakily in front of the Four Beasts, with blood covering almost every inch of her skin.

"Interesting. It seems she is pure in her heart, yet her mind is filled with determination. Her soul is... luminescent. Interesting indeed." Suzaku muttered, slightly flapping his wings in a crimson flurry of feathers.

"I will agree to the binding of the summoning contract with you, Haruno Sakura. However, you should know, little human, that us Celestial Beasts will never be summoned just like the other dog summoning. We decide for ourselves when to come to your aid. You will never have the power to summon us, only call for us." He told the girl.

"I humbly accept the terms of our contract, revered Suzaku." She said and bowed deeply to the ground, shaking. The vermillion bird snorted, an animal like sound which came from the depths of this throat.

"A contractor of mine never bows down. It is not very graceful. Even though you are polite, little human, never bow down to anyone."

"Yes, Suzaku-sama. I will not."

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hi peeps!

One issue coming up. And a long rant of thank you's and questions. And a poll.

YOUR TIME TO SHINE PEEPS, MAKE A STATEMENT &amp; INFLUENCE _TRANSITION!_

(sorry for eye-hurting caps)

Okay, I don't know if I should let Sakura fall in love or not. Should I? Or are you all like NO SHE DOESN'T NEED ANYONE, ALONE IS STRONG ETC..? God, caps hurts my own eyes, don't even know why I use it. Anyway, answer in the reviews and I'll make a poll! Please answer realistically, according to my story. Like, if she should fall in love and with whom - Kiba hasn't had that much lime light, so he's out. Like that.

1\. Should Sakura fall in love?

2\. If yes, with whom? (_both male and female works for me_)

3\. Why should she fall in love with this person?

Also, I would like to give my greatest and humblest of sincere _thank you's_ to my reviewers and readers. I love you with all of my heart for your kind words. And as you might know, I write this story majorly for myself and for _you guys_. You're the ones that makes me want to continue with this haphazard fanfic.

If you would please, I would like to hear a lot more constructive criticism. I want to improve this story so much, and in order to do that, I need people telling me what I do wrong. Like **Danilorraine **commented on the timeline, which I haven't answered yet because I'm not too sure myself lol. I think I tried to do it a bit like Canon, so Sakura's sixteen now and there's half a year left before Naruto returns. **UchihaJennifer **commented on Danzou actually being Danzō, so I changed that. So if you think that I just read your reviews and then leave them, _no_. I listen. I take your compliments and gentle reprimands to heart.

Okay, there are OC's in this fic. I'm sorry. I kind of like them. To be clear, my OC's are:  
\- _Fuyu, the Root-devoted ANBU captain_ (He had a short appearance in chapter 5, Inferno, where he was all handsome and rude when Sakura swallowed the two pills during the ceremony to get into Root. He's got silver hair and violet eyes and is quite strong, yet very deceptive. He might make another appearance in the future.)

\- _Senju Kitsune_ (The librarian in the secret Library at the Hokage Tower, she enjoys Sakura's company dearly because she's lonely.)

_\- Ukeno Tajima_ (The merchant who had Izanami first in chapter one, then meets Sakura

when she buys weapons from his shop. They have some kind of strained friendship going on.)

_\- Seiryu_ (The Azure Dragon, leader of the Celestial Beasts - Powerful and silent)

\- _Suzaku_ (The Vermillion Bird, one of the Celestial Beasts - Elegant yet arrogant)

\- _Genbu_ (The Black Tortoise, one of the Celestial Beasts - Scarred fighter and humorous)

\- _Byakko _(The White Tiger, one of the Celestial Beasts - Aggressive yet cool)

_Side note:_

(Yes, **sasusaku3623649** and **silverwolfighter00**, Kakashi is an ass in last chapter 8, Insignificant Third. I always thought he was an idiot, just leaving Sakura to cheer on the sidelines for Naruto and Sasuke. He had just _no interest _in her at all, and I got _so, so_ mad when I used to read the manga - so I made him a bit of a jerk. But still, there's so many lovely KakaSaku fanfics out there that made me change my opinion slightly. So that's why he's actually a handsome bastard, a bit like Sasuke. Meaning: that's why Sakura blushed when she saw his face. Goddamnit Kakashi)

Thank you.

Still want a Beta though.

xx fascalia


	10. Disowned

**Transition**

Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.

Chapter 10

Disowned

Through the Eyes of a Caring Father, a Prodigy and a Man With a Borrowed Eye

* * *

_The Flourishing Merchant Ukeno Tajima_

Tajima stood at the tree now, he had managed to get up from the ground as he supported himself on the tree bark, and stared with astonishment visible in his grey eyes at the large animals surrounding a little girl. They continued to talk but with lowered voices and the merchant couldn't really hear what they said. He didn't know if he should present himself or not. Or help the bleeding girl. Or run the other way for his dear life.

His ears perked as he heard his own name.

"Tajima-san? We have come to an agreement now. But to easier blend without being noticeable within Konoha, they have decided to take on the appearance of humans. Would you lend us some clothes? I will of course pay you." The Haruno asked, her voice a bit weak. Tajima scrambled up to the girl who swayed a bit unsteadily on the field.

"Y-yes, of course, Cherry. I'll get some bandages for you as well. Wait just a few minutes." He said and ran off to the village, sweat seeping on his forehead. He was glad she owed him a favour now. With those beasts at her side, no merchant would even think of assassinating him.

When he arrived at his weapon's shop he didn't even greet the guards inside, he hurriedly went to his own clothes chamber and gathered the most fine yukatas he could find, got a medical kit and was off again. When he was back at the field he was drenched in sweat and laid the clothes on the ground with a deep bow to each heavenly animal, then he turned to the pinkette and gave her the medical kit. With a poof, while he helped the girl with the bandages and the disinfectant, he heard the beasts talk amongst themselves.

Tajima dared to look over his shoulder and what met his gaze was astounding once again. Four men stood where four heavenly beasts had once been. It was almost too clear of which man was which King. The man with messy white and short hair and green slitted feline eyes and canine teeth sticking out slightly from his mouth was obviously Byakko, the white tiger. The man with black ruffled and spiky hair reaching his collarbone, with tanned skin which was covered with awful red scars and with deep coal black eyes was probably Genbu, the black tortoise. Genbu looked dangerous and rough, with an arrogant smirk adorning his scarred features. The man with long, straight and flowing scarlet hair, with burning amber eyes and a graceful posture was most positively Suzaku, the vermillion bird. And lastly, the one with that immense presence, was the tallest man with long and straight azure hair which reached his hips, his eyes were a ever changing colour of the sky and he had a pale complexion on his beautiful face. It was Seiryu, Tajima had no doubt. The man moved silently, inspecting the black yukata he had chosen from the pile. All of the men were very handsome, perhaps except for Genbu since he was so heavily scarred. They seemed to have no age as well, Tajima couldn't even think of a number as he stared at them. They were ageless.

Suddenly, the Haruno girl shook and fell down. She slumped on the ground, her breathing hitched and he saw sweat glistening on her pale skin as it chafed against the soil. Tajima fumbled with the bandage he had tried to attach, but he had been too preoccupied staring at the four beautiful men that he hadn't paid attention to her. He touched her forehead and it was burning. He didn't know what had happened. In a flash, the man Byakko was there and scooped her up in his arms easily.

"She's suffering from severe chakra depletion, obviously. She must have saved large amounts of chakra into her four Strength of a Hundred Seals on her neck to be able to summon us." Byakko mumbled and the other men gathered around the girl. Tajima stood motionless, not knowing what the man was talking about.

"Foolish girl." Suzaku muttered as his yellow eyes stared unabashedly at her unconscious form in the arm's of the white tiger.

"What is that katana? It's alive. And it's feeding her with dark chakra to keep her alive." Byakko asked, perplexed, as he saw the katana strapped at her side. It hummed slightly.

"It is the embodiment of Izanami of Yomotsu Hirasaka." Seiryu's voice trickled like diamonds into the atmosphere. The tall man with azure hair falling in cascades down his shoulder looked at the katana with ever changing blue eyes.

"What? _That_ devil goddess?" Suzaku said and flinched, his stance changing.

"Interesting." Genbu rumbled with a laugh starting in his throat. "This girl is so interesting."

Byakko wrinkled his nose, similar to a tiger's roaring grimace, yet he didn't drop the girl.

"We will discuss this matter with our contractor when she wakes up. Now, we need to give her chakra to restore her resources." Byakko grumbled, taking a better hold of the girl in his arms.

"I wish to speak with Izanami. We will come to an agreement regarding our contractor. As well come to terms with what the current situation is." Seiryu said and gracefully unstrapped the katana at the unconscious girl's hip. He drew the sword from its scabbard in one swift movement and his eyes turned white as he held the katana pointed to the ground. Tajima still didn't understand what was going on, so he stood silently with bandages ready in his hands and watched as the tall man with a powerful presence seemed to talk with the demon goddess, his eyes a opalescent shimmering white. The other men watched Seiryu as well, expectantly. Genbu cracked his tanned, rough fists.

"I see." Seiryu's voice was crisp and clear and he slid the katana back into the black scabbard. His eyes were a clear ocean colour again and Tajima let out a breath he didn't know he had held back.

"She has a contract with Izanami as well. The contract states that Haruno Sakura is to take the lives of a thousand men to sate Izanami's hunger. In return, Izanami will give herself as a weapon to Haruno Sakura and will give her as well her large chakra reserves residing within. Izanami says she is to aid our contractor in her quest for fulfilling a few difficult goals."

Silence fell down on the men.

"Izanami has agreed to working together with us." Seiryu looked at the other men surrounding him. "What do you say?"

"I'm alright with it. Me and Izanami had a few quarrels in the past, but it's a long time ago now. It will be interesting having her at our side and not at the other." Genbu snorted and smirked. "Killing a thousand men is so like Izanami."

"Izanami is graceful and elegant, even though she revels in carnage. I agree." Suzaku said and flipped a crimson hair strand to his back.

"I agree. It will be interesting to see what this little girl will lead us to." Byakko said grimly.

"Then it is decided." Seiryu concluded and strapped the katana back at the girl's hip. The kunoichi was sweating profusely now and she groaned with her eyes squeezed shut. Tajima's image of the girl changed at that instant; she was _human_. Just like himself. She wasn't invincible, even with that cursed katana at her side. She was dying.

"Let us aid Izanami in restoring our contractor's chakra. Be careful, however, since her chakra channels are quite thin. She is not used to having large amounts of chakra within her. Come now, what do you say about restoring her four little Strength of a Hundred Seals as well?" Genbu rumbled and went to place a hand on the girl's solar plexus. His finger tips seeped black chakra into her body.

"She made them so pretty, with a colour for each of us." Byakko smirked and looked down on her slumped form, his hands starting to glow with white chakra where he held her body.

"So that's what the rhombus tattoos were for." Suzaku chirped and walked elegantly up to Byakko, placing his hand on her forehead. Scarlet energy ran from his palm into the petite girl's skin. Seiryu was the last to gather around Byakko and the girl, letting his hand trace her pink hair gently. The startling cerulean chakra flowed like water around his slender fingers, swirling, finding its way to the girl. The celestial men poured softly dips of their chakras into the girl and it seemed like the girl renewed. The blood on her body disappeared, washed away. Her too pale skin became flushed with the flow of blood. Her skin almost... glinted? As if she had turned into a diamond, the sun light reflected on her.

"That is enough. Any more than this and she will burst." Byakko grumbled and all of the men's hands left the girl's body. Blinking wearily, the girl opened her emerald eyes. When she realised she was in the arms of a beautiful man she sniffed, her eyes wide.

"Oh." She said and looked around, as much as she could in his arms. She took in the image of three men standing around her.

"Thank you. For the chakra infusion. I feel so... light." She said lowly, her head turning away. Tajima saw a slight red tint on her ear.

Byakko slowly let her down and her feet touched the ground softly. The girl straightened her back, absentmindedly touching the katana's hilt at her hip. Her eyes widened again at the touch, as if someone had told her something in the silence. She looked up at the men.

"You will work with Izanami? I am glad. I was to bring up the matter of Izanami and my katana after I had regained my strength. But you beat me to it, it seems." She said, watching them. The men said nothing, only taking in her healthy appearance.

"You guys stand out too much." The kunoichi finally blurted, her cheeks blushing slightly.  
"Impudent girl! How-" Suzaku started but was cut off short.  
"What she states is true, Suzaku." Byakko said and nodded, looking down on his silky yukata.

"Maybe we should melt into the shinobi world by wearing their little shinobi clothes?" Genbu laughed and stretched the hem of his blue yukata, as if it was something annoying.  
"Yes." Seiryu added. "That is a good idea, Genbu."

"We'll go to Tajima's village and buy some. Come with me, if you please." The pinkette said and gathered her backpack, then shrugged it on her shoulder. She suddenly let her hand touch the nape of her neck, dragging her hair over her shoulder. Surprise filled her eyes.

"You restored my seals?" She asked, looking up at the men. Genbu smirked and Byakko shrugged.

"See it as a gift for freeing us." Genbu chuckled.

"Then, thank you. Yet again. I owe you." She was about to bow, but it seemed she was reminded of Suzaku's reprimand before she passed out. To not bow down to anyone. She straightened up and not really knowing what to do, she stroke a pose with a thumbs up. Tajima couldn't help himself, he snorted at the sight, and so earning a slightly embarrassed glare from the pink haired banshee. He shrunk.

"What does that hand sign mean?" Byakko asked as they started making their way to the village, Tajima scrambling behind them.

"It means... a lot of things. Like, 'it's going to be okay'. Or 'all is good'. Or just plainly 'thank you'." Sakura mumbled, smiling as if she thought of something funny.

"I see. That is a useful sign." Byakko sniggered, showing her a thumbs up as well. Sakura couldn't help but giggle at his pose.

They arrived at the village and went into Tajima's shop. Inside, the guards only raised eye brows when they took in the sight of the famed Cherry and a harem of four beautiful men. Tajima took a few fast steps and found the small section where he sold shinobi clothes.

"You may choose whatever you like, weapons as well." He said, shying his eyes away from the colourful gazes of the men.

"We are grateful, merchant." Byakko said and started shuffling through the different materials together with the other Heavenly Animals. Seiryu looked at a fishnet tank top with amused cerulean eyes.

"You don't happen to have any hitai-ates available?" The kunoichi asked as she eyed the different clothes the men picked, almost saying something when Genbu held a chest binding in his scarred hands, looking at intently.

"Mayhaps. I'll check." The merchant said and scurried to another part of the shop, bringing back four blank headbands fastened on black bandanas. The pink haired banshee eyed them and deemed them fit as she took them.

"Now, what village to make you guys come from..." She mumbled as she held a kunai in his hand, pondering.

"What about Kirigakure? Not much is known about that hidden village except for their bloody inhuman exams. And not many will ask unnecessary questions." Tajima suggested and earned an approving look from the girl.

"Yes. It should be Kiri." She agreed and scratched the symbols of the village onto the four head bands.

When they were done, Byakko showed up wearing a beige hakama and a white jacket that parted casually and showed his abdominal muscles and swell of his chest. He had strapped kunai pockets for show on his right leg and adorned a battle axe at his back. Byakko gave the girl a thumbs up and she grinned.

"It fits you." She said and returned the thumbs up enthusiastically. Next was Genbu who came from around the corner, wearing a black hakama and a dark blue shirt. The tanned and scarred arms wore bandages up to his elbows, not really hiding the massive muscles underneath. Only one weapon, a sledge hammer, was strapped at his back. He smirked when he saw Byakko.

"You look like a little human shinobi." He guffawed.

"So do you." Byakko growled and sniffed. Sakura waved with her hand.

"You both will better blend in this way. I'm sorry for the inconvenience." She said humbly.

"None the matter, girlie. I kind of like these materials. And the skin of a human." Genbu said and ruffled his spiky black hair. "Though I do miss my shell."

Tajima turned around when he heard a soft rustle of feet and found Suzaku and Seiryu appear. Suzaku adorned a murky green yukata, flowing behind him as he moved, contrasting the stark red of his long hair. He wore black hakamas underneath as well and he had strapped a thin sword on his hip which perfected the image of a samurai perfectly. Seiryu wore a silky silver top and dark grey hakamas and had no weapons on his person. They both looked absolutely stunning, even in shinobi combat clothes.

"That's a definite thumbs up." Tajima heard the girl say under her breath.

"We need to get going. We'll go to Konohagakure village, where I live and work, and I will appoint a meeting with Tsuna- the Hokage, I mean. I think she'll be able to get you four passports to Konoha. I don't know where you'll be able to live yet, but for the time being you can sleep at my place." She said and the men nodded.

"We do not sleep, girlie. But to have a base somewhere sounds good." Genbu said as they made their way out of the shop, but the pink haired banshee lingered. When Tajima went up to her she gave him a large bundle of money. He took it eagerly in his hands.

"Thank you. For the help. And remember; not a word about this day. Not to anyone." She said as she locked his eyes with her own.  
"Yes, I promise, Cherry." He said and nodded, gulping. The she disappeared out the door in a flurry of petal hued hair. Tajima sighed and went to his chambers, falling on his bed heavily. Not a day went past when he didn't wonder what would have happened if he hadn't requested a team from Konoha, that day when he was to deliver Izanami to the Daimyo. He would probably have been dead, he guessed, but he wouldn't have had to live through so many small heart attacks as he did now.

* * *

_The Caring Father Haruno Kizashi _

He knocked on the door to her apartment and within seconds, she stood there opening the handle. She was fresh out of the shower, with a white bathrobe and a towel on her shoulders, and with blinking apple green eyes she took in the appearance of her father.

"Oh. You're home! Sakura, dear. You must come home and eat dinner with us tonight." Kizashi declared and smiled, hugging the girl tightly. His daughter looked baffled for a moment, then she grinned slightly and patted his back in return.

"Sure, dad. Sounds lovely. What time?"

"Seven o' clock. Me and your mother misses you very much, you know." He mumbled, almost pouting. She cocked her head and smiled sadly.

"I miss you guys too. I'll be there."

"Good. See you tonight, dear!" He cheered and waved at her as he started walking back home. He smiled almost all the way home, already planning the ingredients for the dinner that night. Mebuki would be so happy to have their daughter home, and he had finally caught her. She had been away so much and she hadn't been at home when he had visited. When he got home he told his wife of the news and she squealed happily. They planned the dinner throughout the evening and cooked it together. When the clock hit seven they heard a sharp knock on their front door. Kizashi rushed to it and opened it, finding Sakura standing at their door step.

"Honey!" Mebuki squealed and hugged the girl after Kizashi was done smothering her with his embrace.

"Oh my Sakura! You've grown a tad bit taller haven't you? Hm, hm. Maybe 7 millimetres? I can't believe you're still growing!" Mebuki cheered happily. The girl flushed and nodded as she recuperated from their intense hugs, rubbing her arms.

"Perceptive as ever, mom." Their daughter smiled faintly.

"Oh come on now. We're eating!" Kizashi said and ushered them inside the dining room. Sakura sat down opposite to her father and took in the starters.

"Sakura baby, you're taking the salad right?" Mebuki asked as she went to the kitchen, to get the saucepans with food.

"I'm not on a diet, mom." Sakura said lowly, her eyes looking almost tired when she scooped up the starters on her plate. Mebuki eyes their daughter's plate with surprise.

"But there's just.. So much food on your plate. Think about your figure! What if you get fat?" Mebuki reprimanded the girl with concerned eyes.

"This is not fast food. I eat enough protein to keep me healthy." Sakura snapped and waved with her hands.

"Well, if you say so, honey..." His wife trailed off, though still eyeing the girl. As if she was afraid her daughter would turn into an Akimichi any moment.

They talked about commonplace things at first during their dinner, his wife commenting on the new strange neighbours that had moved in recently beside their house, Kizashi himself commenting on the latest talk about a newspaper article he had found interesting. Their daughter complied with the atmosphere and chatted calmly with them. Kizashi then realised it really had been a long time since he saw her last. She seemed to know more about the political situation in Tea Country than him, which he had read about in the news article. As if she had been there when the rebellion had risen and fallen due to the assassination of the rebellion's leader. He bit his lip as he cut through the meat on his plate. He didn't want to think about it like that.

Mebuki cleared her throat, dabbed a napkin on her mouth and then she folded her hands together, taking in a serious pose. Kizashi knew what she would bring up.

"Sakura dear, we have been thinking. We understand that you want independence, so you moved out. But your father and I have been considering a lot of things and we came to the conclusion that we believe you should follow your old friend Ino's example. Why not aspire to become a Medic instead of these dangerous missions you do?" Mebuki asked.

"We believe it will be more safe that way. And Ino thinks it's really fun, she said when I last met her at the grocery shop. Imagine how many people you can save!" Kizashi added cheerily, patting his daughter on her back. The girl only looked at them, with worn sapphire eyes.

"I'm sorry mom, dad. I can't heal with my right hand because of this scar", she said and showed her palm, where a hideous pink scar was slashed across it. "It's a burn mark that ended my healing chakra tenketsu in the palm nerves. It's a scar that ended my Medic career as well. If I can't heal with both of my hands it would hinder my work as a Medic. As a Medic one often holds the lives of ones patients in the hands, and if the other hand doesn't work; where does that leave me? I'm sorry, but my career as a medic is over." Their daughter said as she absentmindedly made circles in her food with the chopsticks.

"I-it can't be that bad. One hand to work with should be alright..." Kizashi said hesitantly.

"Where did you get that scar?" Mebuki asked sharply instead, looking at her daughter harshly.

"In a fire. It was accidental."

"I can't believe it! Dear, don't you see how dangerous this line of work is? No, no more. We have let you do this for too long now. It's time to end this charade." Kizashi exclaimed, creasing his eyes brows. He had to do this. It was for her own good.

"Meaning?"

"We will disown you if you don't quit being a shinobi." Mebuki said calmly, pronouncing each word carefully yet with steely certainty. The girl only watched them then, taking in their words with glinting emerald eyes.

"That's too bad." She said, closed her eyes and sighed.

"So you'll quit?" Kizashi asked. Hopefully she would finally find some sense, he thought.

"No. I can't and I don't want to. I am sorry you'd have to go as far to disown me for my choice of profession." She said and stared defiantly at them, with those burning eyes.

"Wait, Sakura dear. You can't be serious!" Kizashi snapped, not quite believing the girl was so foolish.

"I am."

"Then it is decided. We will disown you. Come back when you have grown up and changed your mind." Mebuki stated and looked with hard eyes on their daughter.

"This is for your own good, dear." Kizashi added, not wanting her baby girl to leave them really, but she had to see that what she was doing was wrong and not safe. She had to _see_.

"I understand. Farewell then. Thank you for the dinner." She said shortly, rose from her chair, bowed ever so slightly yet politely to them, and then she was gone out the door within a second. The door clicked shut heavily. When their daughter was gone, Mebuki looked at her husband. There were tears in her eyes and Kizashi felt something run down his cheek as well.

"When did our baby girl change so much? She's so rebellious. When did she stop _listening_?" She asked more to herself than to him, her hand wiping away her tears as she sniffed vulnerably.

"I don't know. Maybe when her nightmares started." Kizashi said as he moved over to her and hugged his wife comfortingly. He cried silently.

"Those were so horrible. She screamed every night as if she was literally dying. It was so... terrible. And now she does it all alone. In that damned empty apartment." Mebuki hiccuped an snivelled angrily.

"Damnit. She must have been traumatised on that mission she went on with the Nara boy and that Hyuuga prodigy some year ago. Or she's just... changed." Kizashi growled into his wife's hair as he hugged her tightly, rocking back and forth. She sobbed quietly in his arms.

* * *

_The Cloud Watching Boy Nara Shikamaru_

"It's not that they disowned me, it's that they disrespect me. They disrespect the honourable life of a shinobi and I can't forgive them for it. I have devoted myself to this work unconditionally, to this way of life. I have poured my everything to it. And they... they don't see it." She drunkenly declared, swinging her beer in front of Shikamaru's face. He avoided the beverage with an inch, then he lapsed into silence.

"They will see it, some day. They're just too worried about you at the moment." He tried.

"I will prove it to them! I'll show them I can do it. I won't die so easily." She slurred, yet her eyes were burning fiercely.

Shikamaru bit his lip as he tried to steady her as she continued her rant. She had come to him a few hours ago, demanding his company for a visit to Ichiraku's. He hadn't expected her to go into a drunken rage because of her parents though. He agreed with the Haruno, it was harsh of them to disown her, yet he saw their point of view as well. He had never met mister and missus Haruno, but he understood that they cared deeply for their daughter. They didn't want her to get hurt, to die. However, Shikamaru scolded them in silence, it was her choice. She had gone to the Academy, she been the top kunoichi of her class, she had become a Chunin and she had become the Hokage's apprentice. She was successful and had decided to continue her path of a shinobi. Her parents needed to respect that decision, and so it was a bit childish to disown her. As if that would contribute to anything else but quarrels between parents and daughter. And maybe a severed bond.

"Shikamaru. Thank you." She whispered and he nodded, understanding. She probably didn't want to be alone at the moment. As if she didn't have enough on her shoulders already, now her parents came with another boulder to put on her mind.

"No problemo, Cherry. Let's get you home."

"Uhn. Please stay over?" She grunted and he folded her arm over his shoulder, steadying her on the walk home to her apartment.

"This again? Sure. Your couch is nice." He answered wearily and focused his eyes on his own steps. He had drank a few beers of his own and he felt the world rumble at his feet, spinning, yet he bit it back. He looked at the girl besides him and he knew she would be too hungover tomorrow to make food herself. He huffed.

"I'll make you pancakes tomorrow." Shikamaru said as he lead her up to her doorstep, opening the door with one hand as he steadied the girl with the other.

"I like you, Shikamaru. You're my Pineapple Head Pancake Hero." She slurred and smiled dizzily as she stumbled inside, him following after her, scratching his head.  
"I know."

* * *

_The Prodigy Hyuuga Neji_

When none was watching, Haruno Sakura was dancing.

He found her at the bonfire in the middle of the festival, music pounding from the drums and the fierce guitars, her petal hued hair was swirling around her head in a dance of its own. She moved as if none was watching, there was a sheen of light sweat on her creamy and scarred skin, her hips moving, her torso moving, her hands moving all in tempo with the music. Her hair fell in front of her eyes, over her shoulders, swirling together with her movements. Her eyes were closed and she only listened and danced, not caring about anything or nothing. Sweat whirled off her in jewelled droplets. Her shirt clung tightly to her skin, sweat making it slightly wet. He couldn't stop looking at her. In a moment of a heart beat, the music stopped and she opened her eyes. White pearly eyes took in his form and she stopped moving. He couldn't do anything when she slowly made her way up to him, and he didn't notice the darkness seeping around him. The music of the festival disappeared, the murmurs, the laughter, the lights, everything. There was only Sakura.

The pink haired woman in front of him only stared when she got up in front of him. In a quick movement she pulled the nape of his neck down to her for a soft lingering kiss that sent a hundred shimmering diamonds to gleam in his eyes. She kissed him senseless. He didn't actually comprehend what exactly was happening.

Neji swallowed. But he revelled in the smoothness of her skin when he lightly touched her arm. He was so acutely aware of her, the heat that came off her skin, the sweet perfume that emitted from her body. A fine tremor slipped down his spine.

Neji took a few seconds to rearrange his thoughts and let go of her to breath. Then, his hormone's were getting the better of him and he snapped. He tilted his head over hers and found those enticing lips with his own again and inwardly growled at the sweet yet metallic taste of her pouty lips. He bit her lower lip and pulled it agonisingly slow, as he transitioned to gnaw lightly at her lower lip and she whimpered.

Sakura almost yelped in irritation as she threaded her fingers into his long hair and pulled him closer, so much closer. She sensually opened her mouth and he was swift to slip his tongue in and they danced. She had a dark, sweet and dangerous taste and he was plainly addicted to her. His mind was blank of all other thoughts except for Sakura.

There was only Sakura.

"The time is up." She lowly murmured into against his lips, drawing back from the embrace.

"I have murdered nine hundred and ninety-nine men to this day. The three years time limit has ended."

He was alone with her, the world around them didn't exist. He knew what she would do. What she had to do. She then looked at him with those white eyes, as if she was blind yet she saw everything, through his soul, into his heart. He prepared himself.

"I am ready." He said, his opalescent eyes never leaving hers. "I'm alright with it." He steeled himself. He could do this. For her sake, and none else's. He would give this to her. This life, his own life. For her freedom.

"I'm not." She whispered as her eyes turned completely white, the black pupil vanishing. It was like she had turned blind.

"I'm sorry." She said and raised the bloodied, cursed katana in one swift movement and slit her own throat.

Neji started and woke up from the dream, sweating and breathing harshly. He felt ice settle in his chest, squeezing him tightly as he clenched his bed sheet hard. What the hell? He thought when he went to get water. He gulped the glass of water quickly, the cold water trickling down his dry throat. What had that dream meant? Why had she kissed him? Why had she slit her own throat? Why-

He didn't want to think about it, yet it was there in the back of his mind, screaming at him that something would turn out very bad. He couldn't sleep the rest of that night. The moon was full and he went out into his private garden, practicing the Byakugan and the Gentle fist in the dim light of the stars. He focused on his movements, on the sound of the night, to drain out the sad dirge of his heart which beat harshly against his ribcage with premonition.

* * *

_The Powerful Drunk Senju Tsunade_

The Four Celestial Beasts, this time around. Almost nothing surprised Tsunade anymore about that girl. She had come to the Hokage's Office, all shiny and happy, together with a harem of four drool-worthy men. Tsunade had sputtered her coffee out of her nose when they came inside. When Sakura had showed her the scrolls, she believed her. The Four Celestial beasts had taken on the form of humans to better blend in. Their disguise were civilians from Kiri who were on a trip to Konoha, and they had the the headbands of Kiri nin for protection. Tsunade got the passports for them while she gaped, looking at them. They were so beautiful she couldn't grasp the concept. Godly creatures. They stayed with the girl for the time being, but it seemed like they wanted to stay. The Godaime sighed deeply into her tea mug. She wished Shizune hadn't found that saké bottle yesterday in the secret box inside the roof. Then she shrugged and put on her white Kage coat, preparing for a meeting with a few hidden village leaders who had appointed it to discuss something about Sunagakure. She cracked her neck and was out the door.

* * *

_The Man With a Borrowed Eye Hatake Kakashi_

He had tired of the Genin teams. They didn't contribute to anything, and most failed his initial bell tests. None understood the concept of team work, none was interesting, none was strong. He decided one day when a Genin boy of his team couldn't even throw a kunai straight, he didn't need this anymore. He had appointed a meeting with the Hokage and asked her to be submitted back into ANBU. She had agreed with a frown on her face, but she would have been foolish not to let him back. He was an asset and he was famous for his skills, so she let him back in. Kakashi was pleased and thought life would maybe turn to be a bit more interesting before the fox boy came back to patch up Team Seven.

A day when clouds were looming in the sky, ominously telling of soon to come rain, he was requested to the Hokage's office. The blond, busty woman sat at her desk, looking at a few files when he made his appearance known. He wore his old mask and his ANBU outfit, which still fit him. Tsunade didn't look up at him when she addressed the Copy Nin.

"You are to go on a mission to Sunagakure. I need this scroll delivered to the Kazekage with highest priority. Your teammate will be a new recruit, so look after her the best you can. She has been on a few high ranked missions before, I believe it's been seventeen A-ranks so far, but this is her first S-rank mission. Guide her. You're to go straight away." She produced a scroll from the stacks of paper on her desk and gave it to him.

"Yes, Godaime-sama." He drawled and accepted the scroll, to safely tuck it into his backpack.

"She's waiting for you at the gates. I expect you to arrive in Suna within four days. The Kazekage knows of your mission and will accept you into the village accordingly."

"Yes."

"You're dismissed. Go, go." She ushered with her finger and started signing the paper in front of her with a frown on her face. Kakashi shrugged and poofed away.

When he arrived at the point of the entrance to the village, he at first didn't find her. But then a flicker of chakra to his right made him turn around. She had tried to mask her chakra? How cute, he thought. He'd have to teach the new recruit a bit about masking chakra, it seemed. When he turned around, he saw through the slits of his mask the kunoichi appear. She had the usual ANBU clothing, as well as a blank mask which covered her hair.

"Yo. What's your given name?" Kakashi greeted with a sleazy salute. The kunoichi stood silently at the gate, with her backpack slung casually over her shoulder.

"Utsuro Sen." She answered, her voice muffled by the mask.

"I have heard about you. You're that Blank Face that's been climbing the ranks." He said as he remembered hearing it from Genma. A kunoichi that had a small frame and an unusual blank mask, yet she succeeded with her missions gallantly and so earned higher ranked missions from the Godaime.

"Guess so." She answered simply. Kakashi noted a familiar tone to her voice, but he couldn't place it in his head.

"Your voice sounds very familiar." He stated, looking at her more closely through his mask. Something was off about the way she moved, as if she strained herself to move differently than from what she was used to.

"Oh? Yours too." She answered and produced a map, to see which route to Sunagakure would be the fastest.

"Ah, well. We shouldn't probe any further on each other's identities." Kakashi concluded and looked over her shoulder to the map.

"Agreed."

"Now, we are to deliver a certain scroll for the Godaime to the Kazekage in Sunagakure, which you should already have been informed of. I have the scroll in my backpack. It's top priority, so we'll need to move fast. I am to act as the leader of this mission, since it's your first S-rank. I think this route," he said and trailed his finger on the map,"would be the fastest way."

"I agree... Taichou, then. But this turn here, the missing nin territory around the Sekai Forest, I think we should go through it." She pointed at the forest area of the map and Kakashi wrinkled his nose.  
"Hm, no. Since it would be troublesome if we happened upon some of those."  
"It would be faster if we went that way. And still, if we just so happened upon a few missing nin, what would it matter?"  
"A delay, perhaps."

"Not if we move fast. I recognise your silver hair, it's quite obvious who you are. If what-"  
"Is that so? I would suggest not to mouth my identity loudly, whatever your presumption."

"Oh. I will not. But if what I presume is true, who you are, then you will certainly be able to handle a few missing nin. And in a fast way, without causing a delay."

"That depends on you. If you are prepared to get hurt and bear the consequences, I will agree. However, I will not carry you to Suna. I will leave you and finish the mission if needed be."

"It's a deal, then." She said with an amused tone as she packed the map down into her backpack.

"This is ridiculous... Always the new recruits, eager to prove themselves." Kakashi muttered under his breath as he fastened the clips of his backpack tighter. If the kunoichi heard his annoyed declaration, she acted as if nothing had been said. They nodded at each other and set off into the trees, jumping and hopping on the branches in a blur.

The pace was fast. They were somewhat synced in their movements and in stamina, even though he could see she strained herself to keep up with him. At one point, a few hours later into the day, she had almost stumbled. But she had been fast to cover up her slight mistake, and ran up beside him, as if nothing had happened. He didn't comment on it, and he didn't drop the pace. The kunoichi needed to realise the urgency of the mission, and her physical strength needed to be on par with the priority of it.

When they had been running in silence for most of the day and it was well into the afternoon, they took a water break in a clearing of the forest. Dehydration was always to be avoided, and it would be foolish if a shinobi fell because of it. When the kunoichi turned to shuffle through her backpack to find her water bottle, she bent down and he saw her pale neck show. Her bandana held her hair up as well as it hid it and the mask covered her face, but her neck was clear. He saw a few clearly differently coloured rhombus figures displayed at her spine, at the nape of her neck. They shimmered in the late afternoon light, as if they were engraved diamonds inserted into her skin. He broke the silence then.

"What are those? The rhombus tattoos on your neck." Kakashi asked the kunoichi and she reached unconsciously to touch them gently as she rose, holding the water bottle with the other hand. Her blank mask looked up at him, giving nothing away.

"Well, I have modulated my animal summonings to the seals on my neck. If I touch one of them with my blood and cite an unique incantation, I can summon them without the scroll." She explained as she opened the cap of the bottle and slightly pushed her mask up, so he could see her mouth for a second before she put the bottle to her lips, drinking hungrily.

"Sounds handy. But difficult. How did you learn to do it?" He asked, his interest peaking a tiny bit as he produced a straw from his backpack, to drink inconspicuously from his own water bottle. She gave him a shrug.

"Hard work, a lot of research on medical literature and theories on chakra infusion research, and I also acquired it because of the guidance of my animal summonings. It's easier since my summonings shared their chakras with me once, so we have some kind of connection. Similar to a bond, but physical." She said and drank a bit more water, tilting the bottle slightly to her mouth. He saw that her skin was pale and creamy underneath the mask, but not much else.  
"What is your animal summoning? Sounds interesting." Kakashi asked as slurped from his straw.

"That's a secret." She answered, with a lilt in her tone. Deciding it was enough, she put the water bottle back into her backpack. He eyed her silently, then he sniffed.

"Boring." He drawled and let the subject drop, sipping on his straw.

They went up into the tree tops again a few minutes later, continuing with their former pace with renewed strength in their tree hopping. When the night fell, they started a camp to sleep for a few hours. Kakashi took the first watch and let the airy silence of the night seep into his stirring soul. The next day they continued, running hard through the subsiding forestation. It took a slight toll on him and he cursed his lack of stamina which was a side effect of playing a teacher for little Genin teams for a year or so. He focused on his breathing and couldn't care less of the sweat dripping down his skin.

When they arrived in Sunagakure four days later, they were exhausted. Yet they went straight to the Kazekage's office and delivered the scroll without trouble. They slept for six hours in a hostel, a luxury they had taken on themselves, and were up and running once again the next early day.

When a day had passed of running and skipping over tree branches and trying to shake off the sand in their boots, Kakashi stopped running. They were on the path leading to the Sekai forest and he had been expecting a few missing nin. But not the missing nin he recognised from the Bingo Books. The three infamous missing nin were walking towards them on the same path and Kakashi heard them shout to each other when they saw the kunoichi besides him.

"It's One Sword Cherry! I swear I recognise that katana." One of them pointed to her direction, blatantly obvious.

"Isn't that the new one, with that large bounty on her head, the Cherry?" The other agreed and snorted, preparing kunais in his hand.

"Are you sure it's her?" The missing nin with a straw hat smirked with murderous eyes, drawing his axe from the holster.

"Yeah, I heard she's got a blank mask on sometimes. I'm sure!"

"Alright, let's take her in." The third man grinned and prepared himself for a sprint.

When Kakashi was about to flip around and finish them off before they could move, there was already blood splatter on the ground. Red liquid ran in coils on the ground. He blinked. She was just _too_ _fast_, having slit the first man's throat in a moment, cut off the other man's head and the third man still had the katana stuck in his chest, gurgling blood in confusion as she pressed it into his heart. They hadn't stood a chance. She slit out the katana from his chest and he took his last breath as he fell to the ground in a lifeless heap of flesh, the straw hat laying abandoned besides his body. Three corpses were on the ground and the ANBU stood in the middle of it, as if in all her glory. Kakashi flash stepped up to her just in time to hear her say something under her breath.

"Two hundred and six." The blank faced kunoichi mumbled and bowed to the corpses on the soil as she slid the bloodied humming katana back into the scabbard on her back. Kakashi frowned. She turned around to him then and that blank mask blared at him with so much nothingness. Kakashi glanced grimly at the dead bodies on the ground, understanding what she meant by the number. But why did she count her kills? And had she really killed that many?

"Don't you do it, too?" She broke the silence and he snapped his head up. Through the slits of her mask, he could almost see her eyes. They looked at him sadly.

"What?" He asked and eyed her casual stance, seemingly standing so arrogantly over the corpses.

"Don't you count your kills? How many you have taken the lives of?" She asked again. Kakashi was perplexed by her question, yet he found himself answering the girl.

"I... I did before. Then it just became what it was - a habit. To kill. Now, for me, to kill simply means to slice a bundle of flesh. To stop a heartbeat. And I have long forgotten the number of my kills."

"It's just not that simple though, is it?" She asked, her head cocked to one side.

"No. I still remember my first kill. I didn't know the kunoichi, she was simply there, an enemy nin. And I reacted to my training, to the hard drills, when she was about to hit my teammate with chakra laden scalpels, and I just threw my kunai into her chest. It hit the heart accordingly and she looked at me. As if she was surprised. As if she had never expected to even die... And I don't even remember her face." He confessed, splaying his hands in the air. He said nothing more. Wanted to say nothing more.

"I see." The ANBU kunoichi only stated and then she produced the map of their route.

"Let's leave it at that. Next," she said and pointed to the map, "is the center of the Sekai forest. I think we'll be able to go through it smoothly from now on, as we did on our way to Suna."

"Yes." He said and nodded, trying to leave the bad taste caused by the memory of his first kill in, to let it stay behind in the path of the forest floor when they jumped up into the trees, as she stuffed the map back into her pocket.

A few hours later they started a camp for the night. Utsuro Sen started a fire and looked into her backpack for rice. Kakashi looked at her huddled form, remembering the dead missing nin. Something they had said perked his interest.

"Why did they call you Cherry? Are you in the Bingo Books?" He broke their silence and she snapped her head up.

"Yes. I destroyed the Snow Daimyo's castle and assassinated him. Apparently it was enough to earn a place there." She murmured as she looked down on the boiling rice, stirring it with a sleeve.

"Ah. That was... Unexpected. But why Cherry?" He asked, walking up to her.

"You'll just have to find out why." Her tone was amused and he sat down besides her, to roll out the dried sea weed.

"You're a tricky one, aren't you? Sen." He smirked.

"Maybe, Taichou." She answered and cocked her head.

"You're making me want to rip off that blank mask, you know. I am certain I recognise your voice. You're a new recruit in ANBU. You're in the Bingo Books. How come I haven't heard of you?" He poked, disregarding the fact that their identities were meant to remain unknown.

"It seems you're forgetting something, Taichou." She rose from her sitting position, cracking her neck. "A shinobi must be left unseen. Unknown. To truly succeed." The kunoichi with the given name Utsuro Sen said went to get some more water from the nearby stream, leaving Kakashi with a faint smirk left on his masked lips.

On the last day before they arrived home again, they had taken a break from the constant running. It was a cool day, with a feather light breeze blowing through the trees. He perched on the branch of a tree above their camp fire and the kunoichi had went to fish in the little stream near their base. Kakashi read sleazily in his favourite Icha Icha book as he was suddenly hit with inspiration, an urge, as a leaf swirled past his peripheral vision.

He muttered, produced a pen from his pocket, then scribbled the urge of words down inside his Icha Icha, on the last blank page.

"And bending down beside the glowing embers,  
murmur, a little sadly, how freedom and death fled,  
and paced upon the mountains overhead,  
and hid her face amid a crowd of stars"

A voice, clear as day, pronounced his written words. The kunoichi had appeared behind him on the tree branch, she had read the lines he had scribbled down over his shoulder. He hadn't noticed her presence. Damnit, Kakashi thought as he stuffed his Icha Icha back into his pocket, how come she learnt from his little tips on masking chakra so fast? He growled, yet he felt his ears turn hot. Poetry was a simple extra hobby and he didn't write much anymore, yet he sometimes found himself scribbling down a few lines in his books. It was not known, and he wanted to keep it that way.

"That was quite beautiful." She remarked, then she jumped off the branch and walked away to their camp with dead fish in her hands, leaving him in the green foliage of the tree.

* * *

_The Man of Shadows Shimura Danzō_

She arrived back into the village from Sunagakure, on a mission directly ordered from the Hokage. He asked her the mission details, but it seemed even she didn't know the contents of the scroll. He let her rest a few hours before they started training in the Root quarters. When she arrived, she had showered and seemed to be clean with her skin shining, yet he heard the slight crackle of sand inside her shoes when she walked. They trained well into the night, him giving her directions of the katas she was performing. When he left the quarters to go to sleep, he left her unconscious in the training area.

A day went by, and he sent her together with the Root member Sai to an undercover mission in Storm Country for a few days. It went perfectly well. Sai had proved to be a good pawn to his intentions and he thought that the Root member had been forged into a perfectly emotionless weapon. Danzō then left a few hints to the Hokage about Sai being admitted into ANBU, but it was denied.

A week went by and Haruno Sakura had a regular spot in T&amp;I since she was the only one that could handle her poisons and she was later let in to the physical torture department. The interrogators started to greet her with respect after having seen her with the katana she wielded and used. Danzō was almost proud of the girl, but he didn't recognise the feeling so he left it at that.

A month went by and he trained the girl until she fell unconscious because of over-exhaustion each night. She was almost broken, he thought, but as the saying goes 'What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.' He was determined to make her stronger, more capable. Or she wouldn't be successful with her mission that was nearing in time.

Two months went by like a simple breath and he found himself discussing Konohagakure's ancient politics with her late at nights after their training sessions. She actually proved a few points about some of the ancient laws he had missed, and it didn't anger him that she did. He found it interesting.

Three months passed by and he saw how he had changed her, coal turning to diamond. He let her have no free time whatsoever, no time for family or friends. Making her into the perfect weapon was almost like a recurring goal for him now, so there was no time to waste. He saw how she became more and more emotionless at heart and it pleased him. Yet she always bore those unnerving burning eyes, as if she had her own purpose for this.

Four months passed in the blink of an eye and he suddenly let her handle the Root reports flowing in, filing and inspecting them. And then she suddenly had the authority to give a few orders, for Root members underneath her. She had somehow become his right hand, and he didn't trust her, but damn she was effective. He didn't give her the classified files, but he was near to giving in to the impulse.

Four and a half months passed by and he let her see his arm. When she had seen the eyes, all activated Sharingan, she had smirked. She had told him it was perfect. He had been puzzled, he had thought her reaction would be more... Disgusted, disapproving, questioning. But no, she had asked to be trained with them activated on her instead, to fell her with the Genjutsu. To inspect them in a medical sense as well, to see how they worked and functioned. And he had somehow let her, because of her mission The Assassination of the Last Fan which was nearing in time. To be able to fight the Uchiha, of course she had to understand the concept of Sharingan.

She researched his arm, he allowed her to take samples with his supervision, and she developed a drug within a few weeks that made the chakras from the implanted Sharingan eyes incorporate better with his own life force. He had been suspicious at first, but then he remembered her ceremonial trial. When she had swallowed both the pills he had given her, with her own life on the line. And so when he accepted the drug, he could see better. The world cleared, shone brighter. He felt the chakras bundle gently together and the constant ache in his arm disappeared. That was when he let her see the classified files. She was officially his right hand.

Five months had passed by and he saw himself in the kunoichi. It was soon time for the Assassination of the Last Fan mission and the Uzumaki idiot would come back from training with Jiraya within a month, if his Root sources were correct. She was as ready as she could be, he had made sure of it. He had let her search through his secret files on the Uchiha Clan. She had come to understand their dynamics, their traditions and most of all; their blood line limit. She had learnt how to break through one of his easier Genjutsus that he had used on her with two of the implanted eyes on his arm. However, he knew that a real Uchiha's eyes were stronger than his implanted ones. She perhaps had to cover her own eyes while fighting him, or she'd risk falling prey for the Sharingan's illusional powers.

But she had to be successful. A lot depended on the completion of her mission.

* * *

_The Powerful Drunk Senju Tsunade_

Tsunade sighed angrily and swatted absentmindedly at a fly buzzing near her ear. She had just arrived back into the Hokage's Office from a meeting with the Council and she allowed herself a little pause. Irritation flooded her mind. The recent political discussions had gone to her head. The bastards from Kirigakure was way out of their minds. What were they thinking? Accusing Sunagakure for stealing their trade consciously? Tsunade clenched her teeth hard as she eyed the buzzing fly. Did they want to start a war? The Kazekage did not take such insults lightly, Sunagakure was a proud village. They wouldn't let it go, and Kirigakure knew that. Kirigakure had three other villages backing them up on it already and Tsunade suspected that they wanted to stir things up, but for what purpose exactly, she didn't know. The latest report on Kirigakure's activities lay in front of her on the desk, blaring at her. She knit her brows together and gallantly started folding the paper with slender, long fingers. She let the paper fold and fold, and she turned it around and folded it again, bending the paper report to her will. When she was finished folding it, it had turned into a dishevelled form of a leaf. The buzzing fly reminded itself of its existence when it whirled past her ear. In a moment she closed her eyes, breathing deeply.

She flicked the dishevelled leaf paper fast with her finger and thumb, and a second later it was stuck on the other side of the room, pinning a dead fly to the wood of the wall.

* * *

_The Man With a Borrowed Eye Hatake Kakashi_

When he came back to Konohagakure with the blank face Utsuro Sen from their latest mission, he let himself smell the fresh yet musty scents of his home. The S-ranked mission to Storm Country had gone well and the kunoichi was even more experienced now, having accepted and completed the whole of seven S-ranked missions since the first day they met. Since that day five months ago that she had seen his poem in his Icha Icha. However, Kakashi still couldn't place her identity and it bothered him a _whole_ lot, but all the same he had fallen in sync with her rhythm - whoever she was.

She was easy to cope with and didn't talk unnecessarily, yet she was pleasant to converse with when he felt like it. Her intellect was astounding and she knew very much about almost anything. He knew she must have devoured Konoha's library wholly. Utsuro Sen was a mystery and a pleasant teammate. He didn't need to know more than that, he knew, yet he just couldn't stop pondering the different possibilities on her real identity. He knew she knew that he was Hatake Kakashi, she had been clear on that on their first S-ranked mission together. So she did have the upper hand. Kakashi sighed deeply then, he had to stop thinking about it. It would just eat him up.

They strolled on the streets of Konoha from the gates, and Kakashi felt a slight smile fall on his masked lips as he enjoyed the view of the scurrying villagers, the children playing in the street, the light shuffle of feet on the roof tops of hurrying shinobi. It was a nice little village he lived in, he decided. Utsuro Sen wandered besides him, seemingly in a similar mode to his. He saw in her movements that she was comfortable and knew her way in the confusing streets without much trouble.

In a moment, a man ran and accidentally bumped into the kunoichi. She almost fell to the ground but regained her stance with a cat like move, drawing back from the tumbling man. Kakashi stared at the young man who had bumped into her, not quite believing it was _him_. The kunoichi coughed and gasped, her hands shaking slightly as she saw the stranger's hair colour shine more brightly than the sun. In one swift movement without visible regret, she ripped off her blank mask and threw it on the ground and Kakashi's heart stopped. Pink hair flooded down her shoulders in cascades and apple green eyes glinted in the late sun light. She stared at the man on the ground who rubbed the back of his blond hair with a pout on his face, not quite looking up at the young ANBU standing in front of him. A group of children ran past them, Konohamaru at the front, not seeing the stranger on the ground. They had probably been chasing him.

"_Naruto_?"

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hi peeps! Sorry for the late update. You know, life hit me pretty hard last week. Telling me that no, society and grown-up expectations doesn't only crave your humongous coffee consumption, they want more from you. Like school work, part time job, knowing what to do with your life since you plan on changing the course of the college program. LIFE. Ugh.

Either way, I have gotten such lovely feedback on my last chapter. So, right on to the poll!

**No, Sakura doesn't need to fall in love **\- **3 votes**

**Sakura should fall in love with:**

:::_Neji_::: **3 votes**

:::_Shika_::: **2 votes**

:::_Sasuke_::: **2 votes**

:::_Kakashi_::: **2 votes**

:::_Sai:::_ **1 vote**

:::_Ino:::_ **1 vote**

This tells me that the majority of you guys thinks she should _not_ fall in love and the rest thinks she should fall in love with Neji. A lot of mixed emotions about this, and a lot of you people said you needed to wait a bit before you could state your opinion since Naruto and Sasuke and Itachi hasn't made their appearances in front of Sakura yet. I will take this into consideration when writing further. I have a plan devised, you know. And I might might might throw in something fun, according to your wishes. However, the poll continues until I find one of your explanations perfect and fitting!

What do you guys think of the Four Celestial Beasts? Are they good enough? Powerful enough? Or too powerful? But I mean, since Naruto's got a gigantic powerful toad and Sasuke a gigantic badass snake in Canon, _why the fuck did Sakura get a gigantic slimy snail_? I mean, just no. No. So I might have exaggerated her animal summons a teeny weeny bit, but eh. Meh.

Is it believable that Kakashi went back to ANBU? Is his character too out of place? I have a hard time understanding him. It's too shallow, just thinking he's always late, that he loves Icha Icha and that he's got a badass Sharingan. I want something more from him than that.

So, I'm currently in a lonely desert of lost good fanfiction stories. Please help.

**What is the best Sakura-centric fic you've ever read? **Halp plz

_sidenote:_

And I gotcha all there, didn't I? In Neji's dream. Meheh. And you might have noticed I love cliffhangers.

Love you guys as much as cheesy cliffhangers!

xx fascalia


	11. Team Seven and That Girl

**Transition**

Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.

Chapter 11

Team Seven and That Girl

Through the Eyes of a Fox Boy, a Powerful Alcoholic and a Shy Beauty

* * *

_The Fox Boy Uzumaki Naruto_

"Naruto?" Kakashi let his mask go, settling it over his silver head and then he looked at the pink haired girl in front of him. He frowned, with one wide eye. "Sakura?" He asked, the same confusion in his voice.

"Huh?" Naruto took in the appearance of his former sensei and the pink haired girl in front of him. Sakura? Haruno Sakura? He rose from the sitting position and looked closely at the girl. He wrinkled his nose when he smelt something come off the girl. She reeked of the want for blood, murdering killing intent. Her hair was long and petal hued and flowing and her apple green eyes were hard. His breath hitched.

"Wait, no. You're not Sakura." He breathed and reflexively pulled into a defensive stance. She flinched.

"Who are you? Where's Sakura-chan?" He lashed out, gripping his kunai hard which he had produced forth in an instant.

"Naruto. It's... me?" She said, perplexed at his hostile outburst, backing away.

"Sakura is innocent and pure and you're _not_! Sakura-chan doesn't have that aura, she doesn't reek of blood! It's a _henge_! Don't you see?" He turned to Kakashi who slowly shook his head, only looking at him.

"It's an _enemy nin!_ Infiltrating Ko-"

"Shut up, Naruto. She has just changed." Kakashi smacked the young man on his head with the neon orange book, hard. Naruto startled, his eyes wide as he flinched. Then he turned to really look at his former teammate, followed by Kakashi. Kakashi looked just as much unbelieving at the girl as Naruto did. No wonder, she was an entirely different presence.

"Sakura-chan? It really is you?" He asked, and his cerulean eyes shone. He stretched, touched her arm, and then gently, yet hesitantly embraced her. She returned it awkwardly.

"Yes, you _idiot_." She murmured into the depths of his neon orange jacket. She was shorter than him now and it somehow pleased him. She looked up at him, her brows furrowed. Green glinting eyes.

"That's more like it." He grinned, finally. "That's such a Sakura-chan-thing to say. It's really been a long time!" He cheered and he almost forgot she had changed. Then he looked more closely at her outfit. With raised eyebrows he gaped and let her go to study her. She blinked.

"And... wait. Wait. You're _ANBU_?" He asked, his voice surprisingly hard.

Naruto then remembered baa-chan's words he had received that morning when he and Jiraya had reported to be back at the Hokage's office. _'I'm just warning you. Don't expect Sakura to be the same girl you left, brat. She won't scream loudly, she won't hit you because of something you said inappropriately... But if she does hit you, and probably with good reason if she does, you won't like it. You won't be leaving with just a bruise.'_

"Well, yeah. Kakashi as well." She answered hesitantly. "You're not supposed to know, though. But I couldn't help revealing myself when-when it was you..." She trailed off. Naruto looked at Kakashi, who seemed to still be pondering the fact that she was ANBU as he regarded the blank mask she had worn, laying abandoned on the soil of the street. Naruto figured Kakashi hadn't known it was her either, and they had probably been working together. Naruto realised it must be hard on Kakashi as well, seeing his former student at his side, working with dangerous missions ordered by the Hokage. Naruto stared at her again, taking in her slender yet strong figure. She bit her lip, looking down on her feet. Perhaps this wasn't the kind of reunion she had expected.

"Are those... Scars?" The blond man looked wide eyed at her body, taking in the half moon shaped and pink coloured burn marks visible on her arm, the hideous red tinted slash across her palm, the little shallow scars adorning her creamy skin. She blinked.

"Yes?" She asked, her burning green eyes meeting his cerulean ones.

"Don't- but, I don't..." He stuttered, not knowing what to make of it. He just couldn't comprehend it. The smell of blood on her hands. Her hard, shinobi-like eyes. Her scars. Her being ANBU. His mind was almost near on to imploding. He waved his hands violently in defiance, not looking at her. Anywhere but her.

"I don't like this Sakura." He whispered, knowing his words probably stung, yet he turned around and jumped up on the roof top, running fast away from the two former members of Team Seven. It was not supposed to have happened this way. He jumped over the roof tops, going anywhere and nowhere. Naruto had imagined that when he returned, Sakura would be a pretty Medic, greeting him with a smile on a sunny day. Out of harm's way, out of death's way, out of the way of the mental scars that came with death, she would be in the back to heal. But she wasn't innocent any longer. She was scarred, she was bloodied, she was dirty - as if she was a true shinobi. He felt it, what she was, he could smell it, sense it. But she was _supposed_ to have been cheerful, happy and yet annoying at times, to be a gentle Medic in the back, someone normal, supposed to have been that bridge between him and Teme. But he wondered if she would only destroy that bridge now, if she ever even lightly touched it.

He leapt off a chimney and fell tumbling to the ground, touching the ground lightly with his feet pushing into the soil, continuing to run anywhere and nowhere. And then he found himself jumping in the tree tops within the Forest of Death and nostalgia hit him hard. He ran up a tree and found a large branch which he sat heavily down on. He leaned against the the tree's bark and let out a long, deep breath, closing his eyes. The breeze in the tree tops were soothing, the rustle of leaves beneath him peaceful, yet his inner feelings were in a turmoil. Of lost innocence, of a lost girl. He bit his lip, squeezing his eyes. He needed to meditate. He folded his legs together, crossing each other and he breathed deeply once again, letting his mind drift away. Away from everything.

A few hours later he opened his eyes as he felt a presence nearing him, fast. In a rush of leaves whirling around, she stood in front of him. His mind was blank, from meditating so long, and he blinked at her.

"Here you are, sulking all by yourself." She said, tilting her head slightly to the side. She had changed into a red top together with a beige skirt and he found the clothes soothing, somewhat. Like this is what his Sakura would have looked like had she not changed.

"You found me." He stated and grumpily turned his head away. He still couldn't accept it. Accept her.

"Want to see a trick?" She asked and he didn't answer her, as he looked away. But that little nagging interest in the back of his mind made him turn around his head to look at her, the girl who reeked of blood. Sakura shuffled through her pocket and found what she was looking for; a little round and oblong container. Then she screwed the cork off and Naruto saw what it was. She gently blew through the hole of the stick and several soap bubbles swiftly came into existence, swirling in the breeze of the wind. In one movement, she mumbled a little jutsu and whispered 'kai'. Suddenly, the bubbles floating in the air glowed. A blue light within them made them glow like little stars. They illuminated the still night and somehow, started to multiply. The tree they sat on was covered in the blue light and the bubbles glistened around them. She smiled widely at him.

"Come on, Naruto. There's no angry way to say bubbles." She said and her apple green eyes were soft. Naruto frowned; was that a challenge?

"_Bubbles_!" He screamed angrily, defiantly, and surprise hit him hard. Sakura almost fell from the tree laughing. It had sounded so... Childish? He was perplexed. Was he being childish because Sakura had changed? The blue bubbles floated in the air, stirring, then they multiplied again. They drifted off and Naruto saw them floating towards Konoha, out from the Forest of death.

"It looks even more beautiful from the Hokage mountain." The pinkette said lowly and sprinted off the tree, leaving a scent of fresh flowers and mint behind. Naruto wanted to continue with his grumbling, and sulk alone in the tree, but he found himself following after her either way. When they reached the top of the Hokage mountain they had a perfect view of the village in the darkness of the night in front of them, displayed beneath their feet. The shining blue bubbles drifted through and over the buildings and streets, giving off dreamy dim blue lights. They sparkled and were simply beautiful as they hovered in the air, drifting away into nowhere. It looked like the night sky had fallen and draped itself over the village, the stars replacing the bubbles.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Sakura breathed. Her long hair was messily tied into a bun on top of her head, her creamy complexion reflecting the stars and her profile was mesmerising.

"Yeah, 'ttebayo." Naruto grumbled, yet agreed. He felt something in his chest pound hard and he noticed it was a sense of longing. He had longed for the sweet pink haired girl he had left behind, and what he had found was a blood drenched diamond. Yet, who was he to blame her? He had changed as well, though not in the same way. He sniffed and noticed she was looking at him. There was so much sadness and nostalgia in the depths of the green in her eyes that Naruto almost bit his lip.

"I missed you, Naruto. Let's patch up Team Seven together." She said and looked into his eyes. Her green glinting orbs were so deep and Naruto felt his chest turn into fire.

"I... I missed you, too, Sakura-chan. And I-I'm sorry. For earlier. I just couldn't believe you could have changed _that_ much." He frowned and scratched the back of his blond hair. "I still can't believe it."

"It's fine. I actually don't know myself much anymore." She whispered, as she pushed her knees up to under her chin. Naruto silently studied her suddenly smaller form when she gazed out into the village, letting her take in the scenery slowly. She breathed and closed her eyes.

"It all started with Izanami." She murmured. It seemed like she opened herself up to him, and Naruto was somewhat pleased. Maybe he would understand why she had changed into someone who seemed to revel in carnage. And why she had changed.  
"Who's that?" He asked, letting go of his suspicions and childishness.

"My katana." She opened her eyes and pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. Naruto saw a sleek black katana strapped on her back. He squinted his eyes at it and felt a powerful hum come off the sword. It was a dark chakra. Very dark. He almost shivered.

"It's alive?" He asked, already knowing the answer. It reeked.

"Yeah. It isn't that strange really, me having a Goddess of Death as the embodiment of a sword, since you have a Nine-tailed Beast inside your stomach."  
"True. Goddess of Death? What's she like?"  
"She's a thousand years old, if not more. Beautiful and bloodthirsty." She said simply and Naruto wanted to say 'just like you', but he bit it down. She'd probably not appreciate hearing that.

"Sounds like Kurama, except for the beautiful part. He's got an ugly mug." Naruto sniggered and grinned mischievously.

**Boy, you're being childish.**

Deep inside Naruto's mind, the nine-tailed fox Kurama commented with a deep voice and snorted within his cage, swirling his tails around, and Naruto flicked him off outside the bars while sticking out his tongue. They had developed a special kind of bond during the recent years. Some kind of relationship, almost. Sakura smiled surprisedly.

"I never would have thought that we'd have something like this in common." She let out the words together with a light laugh.  
"What?" He asked confusedly. Something in common with Sakura?  
"We both have beasts near us, talking to us and trying to get us to give in to the hatred." She explained and tilted her cheek against her up folded knees.

"Izanami is like that as well? She'd get along well with Kurama, 'ttebayo." Naruto stated and nodded. So she had a demon as well. That explained a lot of the blood smell.

"Probably." The pink haired kunoichi at his side smiled gently and her fingers grazed the hilt of the katana strapped at her back. Her eyes seemed to flash white in the moon light, then it was gone. Naruto blinked. A play with the starry night lights must have been reflected in them, he figured.

"Do you want to meet her?" Sakura asked then, loosening the sword from its scabbard. Naruto widened his eyes slightly as she held the sharp sword in her grip in front of him. It hummed with black powerful chakra, seeping around the edges as a smoke-like snake coiling around it.  
"I can do that?" He asked, lifting his head up to meet her eyes. They were pale green.

"Yeah, if you touch her and she lets you see her, you can meet her. She's saying you're interesting. She'll let you. But I have to warn you; she is powerful. Be humble."

The pink haired former teammate of his reached out the katana towards him and he didn't hesitate when he accepted the sword, gripping the black old hilt carefully. He wanted to meet Sakura's demon. He figured he would in control, since he was so used to his own creature of hatred. A sudden heaviness fell on his whole being and he was drained away. He didn't feel anything, didn't see, didn't hear, didn't smell, didn't feel his own breath.

Darkness was everywhere. It was like he had turned blind, tangled in the arms of subconsciousness, yet he could see a figure float towards him in the murky atmosphere. As it came closer, his breath hitched. The woman was extremely beautiful. With sleek long black hair flowing around her in cascades, her glinting eyes and the red ruby adorning her forehead he knew that she was a goddess. Her perfect face displayed a diverted smirk, but she didn't look at him with those coal black eyes, framed by rows of long eye lashes. The fallen goddess called Izanami looked behind him, over his head.

In a slow movement, he turned his face around. _He_ was there. The beast inside him, uncaged. It was as if he had followed Naruto there, into the depths of the mind of the katana. The gigantic fox loomed over him with his large frame, yet he was laying casually behind him and stared at the goddess of carnage with amused eyes.

"Hello, Izanami. It's been a millennia or two." The large dangerous nine-tailed beast growled lowly in a greeting, flicking his ear.

"Little furry fox." The Goddess of Death purred and smirked. "Always a pleasure."

Naruto felt his heart beat faster. The two inhuman beings emanated such a powerful presence he felt cold sweat break at the nape of his neck.

"You have found a cute little container, haven't you?" She drawled and finally, her coal black orbs found his. Naruto cringed, feeling his heart almost leap out of his chest.

"Humans shackled me to this brat. And he's not especially cute." Kurama growled.  
"But oh no, fox, you shouldn't lie to yourself. I see your attachment to the little boy clearly." She snickered and Kurama snorted. Naruto finally found his thoughts, his words, his voice.

"Wow! Baa-chan, you're _really_ pretty!" Was all he could muster as he blurted the words, his wide blue eyes still taking in the shapely form of her being. For a moment, the Goddess of Death looked slightly baffled. Kurama roared with rumbling animalistic laughter and Naruto saw a smirk ghost on the enticing lips of the heavenly demon woman in front of him.

"Little boy. You are the first one in this filthy world that has ever called me 'baa-chan'." She whispered amusedly, like the rustle of leaves in the wind it reached his ears. Naruto frowned.

"But you're old, aren't you? Sakura-chan said something about a thousand of years." He muttered, not caring about the powerful presence of the godly woman in front of him. "But you're still pretty."  
"I would rather not be perceived as only that, little boy. I am the Goddess of Carnage, not just a pretty 'baa-chan'." She said and her eyes were never ending.

"I know, and I'm sorry. But all I have seen of you is your face, not your achievements nor accomplishments, baa-chan." He explained and looked up at her floating form. Suddenly, he felt small when she looked down on him. Like an ant, easily crushed.

"Indeed. I believe you would rather not, anyway." She smirked arrogantly and then Naruto felt killing intent push down, down, down on him. It was like a cold hard rain of swords and blood. The reek of metallic liquid and rotting flesh and squashed maggots and _death_. He almost blanched and gulped heavily, swallowing the vomit in his throat harshly as he shook uncontrollably, falling to the whatever he stood on.

"Don't scare the boy, Izanami." Kurama growled dangerously, his tails swirling around.

"Yes, yes, Kurama." She sighed and let her killing intent drop. "It was just a dip of my presence, that is all." She looked down at Naruto again, her eyes slithering across his body as he tried to stand up again. He did, succeeded, and met her eyes.

"I am called Izanami. Not 'baa-chan'. Teach your container some decency, fox." She said with a hard gaze and Naruto felt himself still, freeze again.

"Calm down, Izanami. He's like that to everyone. Just a few moments ago he called me ugly, and I didn't eat him because of it." The beast snarled. The Goddess looked with squinting beautiful eyes at the jinchuuriki.

"That's just because you can't physically eat him." She stated, flicking her flowing black hair over her shoulder.

"That is not all. He's amusing." Kurama snorted. "And I don't want to eat him entirely. Not nowadays at least. Maybe just a tempting bite, now and then."

"That's not true! Just the other day, you said that together with some pepper and salt would make me into a perfect juicy meat ball." Naruto grumbled.

"And some grilled asparagus as a side dish. Don't forget the asparagus." The Kyuubi snorted. "And I said that because you were mocking me about the amount of tails I have, saying something ridiculous about me making up for something." Kurama laughed roughly and Naruto felt an upcoming grin plaster on his face.

"You bear a very unique relationship to your human, fox." Izanami said, letting her fingers grace her smooth cheek in a pondering posture.

"Yes, over the years, it came to be this way." Kurama replied simply. "My hatred for humans has not dissipated and it never will, but this little one is different. Whenever I try to give him my power, he refuses. It is always when he is in an unstable state of mind, often when his friends are threatened, that he gives in to my offers of power. But he never gives in to the hatred I have tried to feed him with."

"Oh. He is interesting, I will give you that." Izanami said and tilted her head. "Quite like my own container."

"Yes. It has been a pleasure to see you after so long, Izanami. It has been quite a time since we stood side at side on the battlefield." Kurama growled and smirked. The Goddess of Death floated lightly in murky darkness, illuminating the black with her overwhelming presence.

"Indeed. You painted a beautiful mosaic with the blood on the grass, I can recall." She said and Naruto squinted his eyes at the fox.

"Carnage and destruction is a work of art, yes. It's pleasure in its perfected form." The Nine-tails agreed and then looked at Naruto, with those condescending yellow eyes. "It is time to leave. The seals on your stomach, boy, is dragging me back and the pulls are getting harder to ignore."

"Then, until next time, Kurama." Izanami said and didn't blink as the fox bowed deeply down to the demon goddess with his large head. Naruto heaved and then waved at Izanami, wanting to leave just as much the fox had to.

"Bye, scary baa-chan!" He said and the last he saw was that faint smile play on her lips as everything disrupted and thrashed away and suddenly he could smell, feel, touch, hear and then he could see Sakura standing in front of him as he laid on the grass. He was back.

"Oh fuck. She's scary as shit, Sakura-chan." He said and rubbed his eyes. "But really pretty."

"That's just so like you, Naruto." She mumbled and smiled. Naruto saw that the bubbles had started to pop and fade, yet some were still left around the edges of the village down below.

"Kurama tagged along as well. Seemed like they knew each other. All buddy-buddy." He added as he rose from the ground and shook off the dirt. Sakura had picked up the cursed katana the moment he had let go of it, it seemed, as he saw it strapped on her back.

"Really? Well, it seems like the old ones all have some kind of past together." The pinkette said and scratched her head.

"All? There's more?" Naruto asked, almost snorting. What was it with all these surprises lately?

"Well, I have a contract with the Four Celestial Beasts and they knew Izanami since before." She confessed and pointed at her neck as she turned around, showing it to him. There were four rhombus like tattoos on the nape of her thin neck and they glistened in the faded lights of the bubbles.

"What's that? It sounds awesome." Naruto glittered and Sakura laughed.

"These tattoos are a ways for me to summon them with my blood and an incantation. The Four Celestial Beasts are Genbu the black tortoise, Byakko the white tiger, Suzaku the vermillion bird and Seiryu the azure dragon. And-"

"Wait, wait, hold on just a minute. You have a _dragon_ summoning?" Naruto squealed, almost jumping up and down as Sakura confirmed with a nod. "A dragon! How cool is that! A dragon!"

"Calm down, Naruto." Sakura laughed again, the sound unfamiliar to her lips. But it seemed it was settling into her composure better than before. "But, yeah. He's kind of cool."

"A dragon!" He cheered again and couldn't help himself as he grinned and almost fell into a little happy dance. "Can I see him?" He asked pleadingly.

"Not now. I won't summon Seiryu just so you can drool on him." Sakura grinned. "Later, sometime. Maybe when we're practicing. They always watch me when I perform different training methods and they add a few tips on improvement. So you can probably meet him then."

"Can't we do some training right now? Please?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide and blue and excited.

"No." Sakura said and waved him off as his face drooped. "It's too late and it would seem strange to train now. But maybe tomorrow or some day soon?"

"Hell yeah! Sounds awesome. I can't fucking wait. A _dragon_!" Naruto cheered and fist pumped in the air, making the pinkette cover her mouth while laughing.

"Come on. It's late. Let's go home." Sakura said and he nodded with sparkling eyes as they set off the mountain, heading back to their beloved village. They parted with a light hug and he saw Sakura hop off on the buildings to another direction than the one of her parent's home. He frowned, but didn't think more of it.

Naruto had a lot to process that night when he went to sleep in his noodle massacred apartment. He laid in bed and stared at the spider web covered roof as he thought about the happenings of that day. About Sakura's change and her scent of blood and her being in ANBU. Her animal summonings, the azure dragon Seiryu. The demon sword Izanami. A dragon. Kurama knowing Izanami from long ago. A dragon. The shining bubbles and their reunion finally settling in, him almost accepting her change. A dragon.

He squealed again but shut his eyes, trying hard to fall asleep. Yet all he could think about was the badassness of having a dragon summoning.

* * *

_The Unknown Librarian of the Hokage's Secret Files Senju Kitsune_

Kitsune missed the quiet girl who used to only come at night. It was so long ago since she last visited. How would she be able to get her back? When one day she unexpectedly met her on the street, grocery shopping in the afternoon, Kitsune slipped a fast written note in the pinkette's pocket. The note said that Kitsune could show Sakura one of the Forbidden Scrolls if she came to visit that night. It was a not-so well known jutsu developed by Hashirama Senju, then even further studied by Orochimaru. It was a jutsu requiring perfect chakra control and it was called Kaigara-no-jutsu, of which Kitsune knew that Sakura possessed that type of chakra control. This jutsu would tell the chakra in the body to react on impact and directly force a large amount of chakra there, dispelling the attack and at the same time heal most of the wounds inflicted in that particular area instantly. It would make the girl almost invincible in battle.

When that night, the pinkette showed up at her door step, Kitsune couldn't hide her joy. She was 27 years old and she was lonely. She admitted it was kind of pathetic, and most of all illegal, to show the girl the Forbidden Scroll but Kitsune couldn't see the problem; Sakura was a nice girl and the former apprentice of the Hokage. She wouldn't do anything bad. And the scroll would be useful to the girl; it wasn't an offensive attack jutsu - all it did was protect the girl.

Sakura's eyes gleamed in the darkness of the library as she read the scroll and memorised every word. Kitsune was glad. When the pinkette was done reading, she gave the Forbidden Scroll back to Kitsune's expectant hands.

"Thank you, Kitsune. I don't know how to repay you for showing this to me." The girl smiled lovingly and yet her eyes glistened like a diamond in sun light.  
"Please, don't thank me. Just- maybe, come back sometime soon?" She asked, almost shyly.

"I will. But the night is still young. Why don't we have some tea now and discuss the political climate in Suna?"

"Sounds lovely. Did you hear about the Kazekage's latest political move?" Kitsune asked as she almost bounced to the water boiler. Sakura settled in a chair and nodded.

"Oh, yes. That inclination on the economic situation in the foreign sector..."

* * *

_The Powerful Drunk Senju Tsunade_

"You're to meet up with the Kazekage in Suna. They have gathered some information regarding the Akatsuki's goals and it seems to have something to do with the jinchuurikis and their containers - meaning it concerns you Naruto. I want you to find out what they know. I'm dispatching the remnants of Team Seven for this mission; Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura. To replace the missing spot of Uchiha Sasuke I have come across Sai who will take his place. Do you all understand?"

"Yes, Godaime-sama." They said in unison. Tsunade smiled and looked at the fox boy with a caring gaze. She was glad he was back, that little joyful fox boy, and in the back of her mind she hoped he would affect Sakura. The girl had grown darker and sharper during the last five months and she had reported regularly that Danzō had stepped up her training and it had been excessive. Tsunade knew about the Sharingan eyes medically inserted in the man of shadows' arm and she was disgusted to no end. But this harsh training of his had taken a severe toll on her former apprentice, and so Tsunade hoped that the little boy of the sun would shine his never ending benevolence on her.

The Godaime looked up from the mission file with the informative details and gave it to Kakashi. The man seemed to almost shy away from where Sakura stood besides Naruto and Tsunade knew why. She had deliberately sent them off to missions together as ANBU, since she knew they were used to each other's presences and movements, which would aid the mission rate of success. And, in the corner of her mind, she had wanted Sakura to see another side of the sleazy Copy Nin. That he could prove himself useful, though probably not in terms of coaching a Genin team which Sakura had a first hand experience of. Tsunade still had a sore spot regarding Kakashi, since Sakura had told her she didn't even know the basics of some more advanced justus most other Genin teams had been taught by their assigned teachers. Sakura hadn't even had a signature move when she had become her apprentice. Kakashi had left her to fend for her own and cheer at the side lines.

When the Copy Nin had found out that Utsuro Sen was in actuality Haruno Sakura, he had come to see her. Without a warning beforehand he had appeared in her office, his eye accusing her already. He hadn't been impolite, yet he had asked her why and how come little Sakura had been accepted into ANBU. The Godaime had clenched her teeth at the time and icily told him that Haruno Sakura was perfectly able as ANBU, and he should know it. That the girl was already at Jounin level, but didn't take the test due to other circumstances Kakashi was no part of and so he didn't need to know the reason. The Copy Nin had scowled, bowed and poofed away.

Coming back from her jumbled thoughts, she sharply looked at the old members of Team Seven.

"You will travel to Sunagakure tomorrow, early. I expect you back within nine days." She said as she produced a newly bought saké bottle from her desk. Shizune had the day off and she would use this opportunity to her heart's content.

"Roger that, baa-chan!" Naruto cheered and saluted the Hokage of Konoha.

"Oh, you and your 'baa-chan'! You childish, impudent brat-" Tsunade sizzled and took a grip of her saké bottle, dangerously insinuating she would sacrifice the precious content if it managed to injure the Kyuubi container. Naruto ducked as if she had already thrown the bottle at him. Sakura shook her head.

"And that's our cue to leave." Kakashi chuckled and waved at the Hokage. "In nine days, Godaime-sama." He said and poofed away, already having an Icha Icha in his hand as he disappeared. Sakura dragged Naruto by the ear out the door, with a sly and inconspicuous wink at Tsunade. The Godaime let herself fall back in her chair as the door shut close and sipped from her precious Kameosa, and she smiled.

* * *

_The Fox Boy Uzumaki Naruto_

"Who's this Sai guy that's been assigned to our team? None can replace Teme!" Naruto grumbled as he walked together with the pinkette on the street, heading for Ichiraku's.

"He's fine, Naruto. Just don't be too hard on him. He's a bit similar to our..." Sakura trailed off. "To Sasuke-kun." She finished with a lowered tone.

"What? You've met him before? And he looks like Teme?" Naruto scowled.

"Yes, I've worked with him a couple of times. And he's got the social skills of a rock, just like Sasuke-kun." She said and her eyes were distant.

"Oh shoot. So that Sai guy is all like the 'hn' sound is the equivalent answer to everything?"

"Pretty much so, but the difference is that at least Sai is trying." She smirked and Naruto bit his lip. He could see it hurt her to just say his name, but she coped better than last time he had seen her, years ago. It seemed she wasn't as broken anymore because of Teme.

"Ah, whatever. I don't care. When can you show me your dragon? I wanna meet him!" He said and changed the subject.

"Take it easy, Naruto. It's not like I can just showcase him like a trophy - he is a presence that has the ability to think and feel, you know." She scolded him with a gentle smile.

"But still-"

"In due time, Naruto." She said and he saw her frown, and that should have been a warning but Naruto just couldn't get the thought of a dragon out his head.

"Oh, come on Sakura-chan. It's not fair." Naruto wailed.

"Don't you have animal summonings of your own?" Sakura asked, trying to change the course of the conversation. But Naruto wouldn't let it go so easily.

"Yeah, I formed a contract with the Yakuza Toads which Jiraya introduced me to. They're cool and all, but a dragon_-_"

"Oh for _god's sake_, would you please stop nagging about Seiryu?" Sakura clipped. Naruto sighed and went inside Ichiraku's as they had reached their destination.

"Sorry, sorry." He said and moped silently as they went to the bar. Sakura ordered a nonalcoholic beer, since they had the mission tomorrow early morning. Naruto ordered a bowl of noodles and they settled at a table.

"Have you met up with anyone else?" Sakura asked as Naruto slurped his noodles hungrily, having forgotten all there was to a dragon summoning. Noodles was his way of life and it was almost the same as meditation for him.

"Huh? Met up?"

"Yeah. Like with Kiba, or Shika. Or Hinata." She said and her apple green eyes gleamed.

"Nah, haven't had the time yet. Me and Jiraya had to report a bunch of important shit to Tsunade, about some political situations happening in the other Hidden Villages and stuff. We travelled a lot and learned a lot, so we had to report it." He said and chewed the delicious food.

"That's too bad you haven't had the time. You know what, Hinata told me yesterday that she had something to tell you. Maybe you should go see her tonight?"

"Hinata? What would she want to tell me?" He asked while frowning, noodles hanging unabashedly from his mouth.

"You'll just have to find out." Sakura smirked as she sipped her beer.

"I was supposed to meet up with Jiraya for a bit tonight to review some of my skills, but sure. Why not, if it's important." He said and shrugged. Sakura's smile was hard to make much sense of.

"Great. Meet her at Black Gold, they have the best coffee in Konoha. I think she said six o' clock would be a good time." She told him as she bit her lip, as if trying to bite down a huge grin.

"Alrighty."

* * *

_The Shy Beauty Hyuuga Hinata_

She had seen him. He was back and the butterflies in her stomach wouldn't stop fluttering about. Whenever he neared she still blanched and blushed, but she had gotten better. At least she hadn't passed out this time. The sun shone brighter whenever she saw him and her feelings for him had only grown so much more for the last years spent apart. Not that he would ever notice her feelings for him. He was just that kind of man. And his cheerful spirit always lifted her up in the clouds and she danced in her dreams in the pale moon light.

Hinata was perceptive and she knew that Naruto had somehow lost his childhood feelings for the pink haired girl, or at least they weren't as strong. She saw it in the way he looked at her. He was more confused than ever, and he probably had troubles accepting a no longer innocent Sakura. Hinata knew she still had doubts herself.

Then, three days after his arrival to the village, Sakura had told her that she had a surprise gift for the Hyuuga heiress and that she wanted to meet up with her six o' clock at Black Gold. Hinata pulled on one of her usual purple jackets and went. When she sat at the outer serving of the hidden café she mused on what surprise the pink haired kunoichi had prepared for her.

When quarter past six an orange jumpsuit appeared before her, she swallowed her coffee in the wrong windpipe and coughed while blushing as Naruto came to greet her.

"Yo! Y'allright there, Hinata?" He asked with concerned cerulean eyes. Cough. She coughed again and strained herself to answer.

"Y-yes, N-Naruto-kun." She murmured and coughed yet again. So _this_ was Sakura's surprise.

"So, Sakura said you had something to tell me." He cheered and went to sit down in front of her with a cup of steaming coffee and in that moment, Hinata knew she had been set up. The trap was perfect for an inconspicuous date. She cursed and blessed her pink haired acquaintance for this chance and this scheme.

"Uh. Y-yes. I-I wanted..." She swallowed. "I wanted to w-welcome you back to Konoha."

"Oh." He said and blinked. "Thanks! It's nice to be back." Naruto said and grinned, yet it seemed he was still a bit confused.

"W-why don't you t-tell me what y-you have been up t-to these past years?" She said and gathered her courage as she spoke. She would make the most out of this opportunity. She braced herself and let out a light breath. The man in front of her was then enveloped in his descriptions of his adventures with the pervert Sannin and Hinata fell for him all over again. They talked most of the evening and Hinata succeeded in saying a few sentences without stuttering. Somehow, he gave her courage. He gave her strength.

And she loved him.

* * *

_The Prodigy Hyuuga Neji_

"So Sunagakure's next, huh." Neji commented as he sipped from his citrus tea. It was sweet and sour.

"Yeah. With old dear Team Seven, minus one." She said with a grim tone, yet she smiled gently.

Shikamaru sat opposite her, with a game of chess in front of him and contemplated his next move against the pink haired kunoichi. It was almost like the older days, when they had met up regularly to drink tea and play whatever board game Shikamaru suggested. Neji hadn't seen much of the kunoichi during the last five months and he knew she had been training. Whenever he had managed to catch glimpses of the girl, she was almost always covered in bandages and exhaustedly dragging herself forward.

Shikamaru had told him that she had been accepted into ANBU a few months ago, and the Hyuuga prodigy had somehow already known it. She hadn't needed to tell him. In the way she moved, how her eyes glistened harder than ever, he knew she couldn't have been assigned to only regular missions. She was too much of an asset not to be used to full extent. Neji pondered on how the ANBU life had affected her. She had most probably built up an even stronger resistance against human emotions. Not the least because of Izanami's influence as well.

They were in the Nara compound and it was late afternoon, the last rays of the sun shedding its radiance on the garden and the veranda which they leisurely sat on. Sakura had just gotten back from Ichiraku's with Naruto and when she had met up with them, there was a mischievous grin on her face. Neji had heard that Hinata was supposed to meet up with Sakura at the coffee shop, yet she was with them, sipping her tea as she looked at the game of chess with scrutinising eyes.

"Weren't you supposed to meet up with Hinata, well, about now?" Neji asked, raising an eye brow. At that, Sakura laughed.

"No, it's not me she's going to see." She said mysteriously, then it seemed she couldn't hold it in. "It's Naruto."

"Oh. A little date-scheme, I see." Neji smirked. Shikamaru snorted, mumbled 'troublesome', and moved a chess piece. Sakura nodded to herself.

"Yeah, thought it was about time to step up the game." She smiled and moved her own piece, the black chess piece knocking away Shikamaru's white piece. He grumbled.

Shikamaru looked up at Neji with a contemplative gaze, disregarding the game for a few moments.

"Ah. Neji, I forgot to ask. How did the seduction mission go last week?" He asked. Sakura turned her head to look at the prodigy with slightly wide eyes. Neji looked down on his hands, suppressing the urge to give the pineapple headed sloth a hateful opalescent glare.

"It was successful." He mumbled.

"It was your first, right?" Shikamaru pressed and it took all of Neji's strength not to hit the Nara out of this world.

"Yes." Neji bit off, then he stole a look at Sakura. It seemed she was no longer interested in the subject and had moved on to observe the chess game. He felt something sink in his chest.

"What about you, Sakura?" Neji found himself asking.  
"What?" She looked up from the game and her expression was unreadable.

"Have you... been to a Seduction mission?" He tried and didn't waver as he held her gaze.

"Yeah." She answered easily and both of the men at her side were shocked. The Nara froze when he was about to move a piece, but regained his composure seconds after and settled the piece down. Neji almost broke his tea cup.

"When?" Shikamaru asked, regarding her carefully.  
"Three months ago, I guess." She shrugged her shoulders, dismissing it so easily, when it shouldn't be.  
"How... was it?" Neji asked, not really knowing if he wanted the answer or not.  
"Nothing special, I got the information and it was quick." Sakura said simply.

"Oh." Neji let out. The two Clansmen stared at her and she sighed deeply, as if she was about to scold children.

"Guys. This is normal. We are shinobi, tools of our villages. Having sex is part of our jobs, it is required of us. If you make a big deal out of it, you won't feel too great."

"That's just..." Shikamaru trailed off, seemingly realising it was true, however horrid it was.

"Fucked up? Yeah. But what did you expect? The shinobi life is not as glorified as it seemed when we were Genin, you should know that." She said, with those hard, glinting green eyes.

"Yes, but still...", Shikamaru muttered, "Who was your Seduction teacher?"

"Genma, and later Anko." She said and sighed.

"So Genma took your virginity." Neji stated. There was something cold in his chest that wouldn't melt, no matter what.

"Yeah."

"You're too casual about this, Sakura." Shikamaru observed. "Don't you feel anything?"

"What do you mean?" She asked with a befuddled expression.

"Like... Didn't you want to at least love the person of whom you gave your virginity to?" He said, almost blushing. Neji agreed silently with him.

"Shika. That's a luxury a shinobi doesn't deserve." Sakura said sharply. "We are humans that kill humans without a second thought. Who are we to demand such things like love?"

"You're too harsh on yourself, Sakura." Neji strained. "Shinobi are not depraved of the choice of love."

"Whatever. At the moment, the mere thought of love is quite distant to me. I think I have lost the essence of it. I know I appreciate you two, as well as my family and Naruto and a few others. But I am not certain I can grasp the concept of love." The pink haired kunoichi confessed and her eyes travelled away into the garden, observing the birds flying about and the greenery which sprouted with life.

"Sakura. Love is not something you can grasp. It simply is there." Neji said, trying to make her see it.

"You don't understand. Izanami... she has deliberately shaved off on my feelings. If one thing she hates in this world, it is love." Sakura breathed. "Love has no meaning for me."

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hi guys!

Long time no hear. At this moment, I don't have much time for this note, but I'll say two things: I LOVE YOU GUYS and that I'll do the poll on love in the next chapter, put everything together and stuff.

Please tell me if you see any errors, since this chapter was rushed and shit.

Love ya

xx fascalia


	12. Monsters

**Transition**

Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.

Chapter 12

Monsters

Through the Eyes of a Fox Boy, a Man with a Name and the Boy Who Was Once Loved

* * *

_The Man with a Name Sai_

In the early morning, he was right on time to meet his new team for the mission to Sunagakure. He didn't know the feeling in his chest as he thought about the mission. It was a bit like fluttering birds. He saw that the pink haired kunoichi was already there, waiting for the rest of the members at the gates facing out of Konoha. She smiled as he came up to her and he nodded. She wore a white top, for once, and a coat together with black hakamas. Her bag was slung over her shoulder casually.

"Good morning, Ugly." He said and went to stand beside her.

"Morning, fuckface." She greeted him absentmindedly as she looked at the rising sun at the horizon.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Someone yelled and Sai turned around to see a blond young man bounce towards them with an overly large backpack on his shoulders, but when the blond saw Sai's face he stopped and stood still. The young man called Uzumaki Naruto blanched as he took in Sai's features. There was recognition in the cerulean blue eyes of the blond boy and Sai didn't know what to make of it, since he had never met the blond young man before.

"What the actual _fuck_-" He yelled and stared at him, but Sai broke him off.

"Why is Dickless screaming like that?" Sai asked Sakura with a frown on his pale complexion. The boy called Naruto stuttered, then his eyes burned and Sakura chuckled.

"_What did you just call me_-"

"He's just surprised, Sai, that you look so much like our former teammate. Now, shush Naruto. That's just Sai's socially stunted way of bonding, giving people nicknames." Sakura said and patted her hand on Sai's back.

"What is 'bonding', Ugly?" Sai asked, perplexed. Naruto stopped seething and looked at him again, as if finally realising he was someone else.

"See?" Sakura chuckled and shrugged. "He's totally clueless."

"Huh. He just called you ugly, though." Naruto said sternly, then he couldn't contain himself and laughed out loud, holding his stomach. The pinkette frowned.

"Yeah, he did just so, _Dickless_." Sakura snorted.

"Hey." Naruto grumpily said, offended. "Not you too!"

"What? It's quite catchy." She implied and flicked a lock of her hair away from her eyes.

"Then I'm gonna call you flat-chested bit-"

Sakura smacked Naruto at the back of his head before he could finish his sentence, making him almost topple over. He glared at her as he rubbed his head and she glared back just as furiously. Sai contemplated for a second, then voiced his thoughts.

"I have changed my mind regarding the issue of you nickname, Sakura-san, since you're more ferocious than I first thought. I believe 'Pink Haired Banshee' would fit better." Sai concluded, nodding to himself as he walked besides them. Naruto laughed at that and Sakura grinned, seemingly having forgotten about Naruto's try at a nickname for her.

"You're not the first one to call me that." She chirruped. "It's too long a nickname though."

"True. What about simply 'Banshee'?" Sai suggested.

"Works for me." She grinned, but then she turned to Naruto. "This only applies to Sai. You are not allowed to call me anything but my name."

"Dattebayo, Sakura-chan." He said, still holding his hand over his head with a pout on his face. A protruding lump started to grow comically on his head.

"Good. Now where is our slothtastic sensei?" Sakura said and looked around her, then went to heal the blond man's head. "He's never late for missions."

"Yo. Missed me?" A man with silver hair and a black bandana covering half his face appeared behind them, holding an orange book in his hands.

"As if! You're late, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto yelled and Sakura retracted her hand from his head, the lump completely gone and healed.

"Got lost on the path of life." The man called Kakashi crinkled his one visible eye in a not so apologetic smile.

"Sure you did. Now, let's get going or we'll be late. All of us." The pink haired kunoichi said tiredly and strapped her backpack tightly on her shoulders.

They travelled fast and Sai got to know Naruto better. The forestation became less and less, the air grew humid and hot and Naruto started taunting him for his upcoming sunburn that would make half his stomach burnt by the sun and the rest pale as the moon. At that, Sai only needed to say 'Dickless' to send the Uzumaki into a quite amusing rage. On the fourth day they reached the mountains and as they descended them, they had a perfect view of the desert filtering in front of them. It was like a frozen rampaging ocean of sand. The dunes were high and they needed to strip some of their clothes off to not fall from the sun's stark presence. The Banshee produced a straw hat and pulled her pink hair inside it. A day later, they saw the gates to Sunagakure. They had arrived. Shouting were heard behind the gates and Sai picked up on one of the gate keeper's voice.

"It's the Kyuubi container from Konoha! The one who was in Team Seven with the Uchiha survivor and the Copy Nin!" The Sand nin shouted. "They have arrived! Open the gates."

They shuffled inside the hidden village and a few civilians looked their way, observing their strange clothes. Sai looked at Sakura, who idly walked besides him.

"Why didn't they mention you? You're a part of the past Team Seven. They should know about you." Sai asked. The pink haired kunoichi turned and the straw hat she wore shaded her face, yet her eyes were as green as ever.

"Oh. Well, I am the team member who people tend to forget. But it's alright, I'd like to keep it that way." She said and smiled.

"Why?" Sai pressed, still not comprehending.

"I work better in their shadows. That way, I can remain hidden. That way, I can contribute more easily, without unnecessary recognition."

"I get your point, but still- Don't you want to be recognised? To be seen?" He asked, regarding her statement strange, since he had read in so many books that humans craved recognition. Craved attention and a presence in people's minds.

"Maybe. But my goals keeps me from doing so. It would be nice, of course, to be a visible part of Team Seven. But it's not necessary."

* * *

_The Boy Who Was Once Loved Kazekage Gaara_

A young woman stood at the entrance, seemingly waiting for someone. Gaara's interest perked as the young woman's straw hat suddenly got caught in the wind and flew away, leaving the girl's head bare and left her flowing pink hair to swirl in the winds of the desert. A few civilians stopped walking on the streets to stare at her as she grumpily looked at the straw what flying away into the desert.

"Such disgusting flamboyant hair colour." The red haired young man commented dryly and watched her when she raised an eye brow. His siblings stopped walking besides him at the same time he did.

"Hey. No one insults the hair." The kunoichi clipped and glared at him.

"Who are you?" He asked coldly. He remembered the outrageous hair colour from the Chunin exams in Konohagakure, years ago. He had seen it and disregarded it, since his primary interest had been in the Uchiha boy and the other jinchuuriki Naruto. But she had probably been on the same team as them, he figured. He couldn't remember her name. Yet he showed unconcealed little interest in the girl. She reeked of blood and sin. The monster within him growled hungrily.

"Naturally being curious about a person is a dangerous state to be caught in." She smirked and the red headed man looked impassively at her. She dared to be rude to him? To the Kazekage? To a monster?

"Answer." He said sharply, as towers of sand slithered around him in a hostile attempt to show the girl he was not too prone for playing around. She looked dazedly at his moving sand and then she bowed gallantly, her hair dripping down her shoulders, though Gaara could discern the lilt of sarcasm in her exaggerated move.

"I am Haruno Sakura, part of Team Seven, proud kunoichi of Konohagakure. Pleasure to meet you, revered Kazekage of Sunagakure." She pronounced politely.

"The audacity of that girl-" Kankuro breathed angrily at Gaara's side, but Temari hindered Kankuro from interrupting.

"What is your purpose here, Haruno Sakura?" Gaara asked, ignoring Kankuro's comment.

"I am part of Team Seven, together with Naruto and Kakashi and the additional member Sai. We're here to investigate on the rumours of Akatsuki's real goal, concerning the jinchuurikis on order of Godaime-sama." The pink haired kunoichi drawled, as if she was not really interested anymore in the subject.

"You smell of blood." Gaara stated as he looked at her with cold eyes and she turned her head to graze him with her sapphire eyes. A smile played on her soft, cerise lips and her green eyes paled visibly.

"You do, too." She purred and Gaara felt the monster within him growl with anticipation. Without being able to control it, Gaara unconsciously let out a bit of killing intent. Kankuro and Temari froze at his side, hesitantly exchanging a look. The pink haired kunoichi from Konoha let her smile grow wider, and then suddenly a wave of blood lust hit him hard.

It was dripping, seething, boiling and he had not anticipated such enormous blood thirst come from a little pink haired girl. She only stood a few meters away from him, but the pressure was so overwhelming it felt like she stood behind him with a kunai pressed at his throat. Gaara noted how Temari shivered slightly and Kankuro swallowed harshly. Two monsters battled with blood thirst right in front of them, so mayhaps it was not so strange. Civilians on the street stilled and a baby started to cry in the distance.

The pressure from within him, the monster, pushed even more and Gaara couldn't help but produce even more killing intent. At this, some weaker pedestrians fell to the ground on their knees. Haruno Sakura winced as his intent struck her, then she bit her lip and her eyes burned. Another wave of blood thirst came off of her, hitting him hard and making him nauseous, it made Temari shudder and Kankuro's breath hitch. A thud was heard from beside him and when he looked, a bird lay dead on the sandy soils in the street. A few more thuds told him that several more birds had fallen due to her killing intent. Inside him, Shukaku growled for more. For her blood.

"Sakura! Stop it, for god's sake!" A shrill voice shouted and in a neon orange flash, Naruto appeared and stood in front of the pink haired kunoichi. The pressure lifted instantly and Gaara felt free, pressing down his own blood lust as he regained some sense. He no longer smelled the blood and he didn't feel as if someone pressed the air out of his lungs. The monster within him sighed, defeated and disappointed. Temari breathed deeply and regained her composure.

"Fuck, I just had an aneurysm." Kankuro cursed, pressing his hand on his forehead, as if trying to push down a headache. "I thought they were going to claw at each other's throats."

"If Naruto hadn't interrupted, they probably would have." Temari said sourly, looking at the pink haired kunoichi who discussed something leisurely with the angry Kyuubi container.

"I remember that girl from the Chuunin exams in Konoha. But from what I recall, she was a fangirling weakling. Seems like she's trained hard. And lost her mind, what with going up against Gaara of all people" Temari commented to Kankuro as she watched the pink haired girl. Gaara followed her gaze and he strengthened his hearing with chakra, just enough so he could hear the pink haired girl's and Naruto's conversation.

"Well, who doesn't appreciate the occasional twist?" The Haruno girl said and grinned at the fox boy. Naruto grit his teeth and frowned at the pinkette.

"The occasional deprivation of a moral sense for what's right and wrong and the occasional uncalled for fight between a political ANBU guest inside the borders of Suna and the Kazekage? Yeah, who wouldn't appreciate _that_." Naruto growled. The girl looked slightly taken aback as he said this, and then she looked down on the sandy ground.

"He triggered something within me. I haven't met anyone mortal with that amount of blood lust. I-... I felt it within myself and not just because of Izanami. I reacted to him, somehow. I'm sorry, Naruto." She said and wouldn't meet his eyes.

"It's not me you're going to apologise to. Go say sorry to Gaara." Naruto sighed and patted her on her shoulder, then he moved to push her to the Kazekage and his siblings.

"Shoo, shoo."

"Hey, don't push!" Sakura breathed as she waved him off. They then stood in front of Gaara and his two siblings. His eyes slid across her strong posture and she met his gaze, unwavering.

"I apologise for accidentally killing a few of your birds, Kazekage-sama." Sakura said and her eyes glittered. Naruto huffed and then pushed her head down so she bowed and she snarled, yet didn't shake him off.

"It is none the matter. My monster reacted to you as well. I apologise for letting out its hunger for your blood." Gaara said calmly and Temari drew an audible breath. Gaara knew it was beneath him to apologise to a simple kunoichi, but he felt the need to be polite with this young woman. Her presence was too predatory-like and changeable that he did not want to take any risks.

"Welcome to Sunagakure, you two. We were told to meet you all at the gates, though." Kankuro said and grinned, trying to get rid of the rigid atmosphere. "Now, where's the other two?"

"Searching for an inn to stay at." Naruto said and smiled. "I did too, but then I felt this chakra intense killing intent contest going on and I figured it had to do with Gaara so I came to save the day."

"Perceptive, aren't you." Temari said and gave him a crooked grin.

* * *

_The Fox Boy Uzumaki Naruto_

When they arrived at the inn they had found for a reasonable price, Naruto cornered Sakura in her room. She looked up from the bed where she was unpacking her bag. It was as if she had expected him to come. He settled besides her on the bed, crossing his legs. His eyes were honest as they watched her methodically pluck clothes from her bag and fold them on the bed sheet.

"Sakura. That wasn't like you at all, that thing with Gaara. I know you have changed and all, but I also know that you're not that wicked. What's going on?" He asked her and he saw her close her eyes. She breathed deeply for a few moments and then she opened her eyes to look at him. They were pale green.

"I know. It's just that lately... I feel so fragmented. It's like different parts of me are battling for the completion of my personality. It's not like it was before, when I was whole. When I just had Inner to argue with. Now, I feel dishevelled. There are parts of me that wants to go to war with the world, to bathe in blood and stand on heaps of skulls. Then there are parts of me that wants nothing but peace and innocence and rainbows and stardust. I'm not sure I can cope with myself much more. The parts of me all want to take over, to be the primary source of my personality. Yet all I want is to complete my goals, and all the parts of me wants the same. If I somehow can blend these parts into one, into _me_, then maybe I would be at peace with myself. But it's hard. It's just so hard. And it's even more disturbing that I don't want to let any part of me go, since they are what makes me - me."

"Wow... Uh. That's- Is it because of Izanami?" Naruto asked, concern in his voice.

"Probably." She sighed, then she looked away into the distance, her eyes empty. It scared Naruto.

"Will I simply peel away?" She whispered, as if to none in particular. The Kyuubi container then hugged her tightly.

"You won't. I won't let you. Whatever you decide to be, you will still be Haruno Sakura. You will smack me across the sky when I do something inappropriate. You will tell me to calm down. And nowadays, it seems you are eager to prove yourself. You should know, Sakura-chan, that I will always approve of you." Naruto said and he knew that in that moment, he matured just a little bit. It seemed like just being in close proximity to this changed Sakura, he changed as well. Maybe he had become a bit more thoughtful. To rather actually consider the words that left his mouth instead of just saying whatever came to his mind.

"Thank you, Naruto." She whispered as she gave back a hug.

"You know, I cling to my goals as if they are what makes me human still. If I lose sight of my goals, I don't know what I would become. They are my life force, a part of me that will never die. They are my reminders of a purpose with this life. They are what drives me to smile and still claim lives and stand over mountains of corpses." She whispered at his ear and Naruto felt himself almost shiver.

"I'll guide you, if you want." Naruto said and she hugged him tighter as her answer.

"Sakura-chan. You should know... that I no longer think your back is small."

"I know, Naruto. I know." She said and he felt her tense shoulders relax in his embrace.

Forty minutes later when they had unpacked and refreshed, they went down to meet up with Kakashi and that dick Sai, to discuss the briefing Kakashi had attended together with the Kazekage about the Akatsuki. Their lunch was served in the inn's bar part and the atmosphere was steamy from the cookings of the nearby kitchen. They were all tired from the constant running the past few days and was happily scrounging the food on their plates.

"So we're going to meet up with the Kazekage later. All I heard on the briefing was that Akatsuki has been hunting jinchuurikis. They have succeeded in capturing and killing two thus far." Kakashi said and picked his chop sticks in his food.

"That's horrible." Naruto said with food in his mouth.

"We'll talk more about it later. We'll come up with a plan on how to handle things and then we're going to report back to Godaime-sama." Kakashi concluded and in a blur, so fast none could see, he had eaten a few pieces of meat by quickly drawing his mask up and down. Naruto was a bit fascinated at this feat.

"There's no meat on your plate Sakura. Are you not feeling well?" Sai questioned the girl as he squinted his eyes at her plate. Naruto saw what Sai pointed at and he looked curiously at his pink haired team mate.

"No, I'm perfectly fine. I just don't eat meat anymore." She said. "I kill enough as it is."

"Oh. But what about the protein?" Kakashi asked.

"The protein meat provides is easily found in plants. It's basic knowledge, though not many care to look into it." She explained.

"Really? But meat is delicious! I would never be able to stop eating it." Naruto commented, staring at her confusedly.

"I believe that only for my own delight, it is not right to take away an animals life. There's much more to food than just meat."

"It's kind of hypocritical of you though, don't you think? You're willing to kill people but not animals." Kakashi remarked.

"I am a shinobi and it is required of me. Whereas, I have never shed innocent blood of a human. Animals has never done me anything wrong or has ever been part of any mission. Hence I prefer to not eat them."

"I see." The Copy Nin said and nodded to himself, continuing to eat.

"Hey, you killed some birds before-" Naruto was cut off short when Sakura gave him a hard glance. He knew it had been accidental due to her killing intent, so he shut his mouth. For a few seconds, Naruto looked at his own plate that contained beef. He frowned and poked around a bit, then he shrugged and started eating, since the dead animal on his plate already had died. Sakura continued to eat her plant based food and quietly drank some green tea.

* * *

_The Fan Wielding Woman Temari_

Apparently, that Naruto brat had decided that him, Kankuro, Gaara, Kakashi and Sai were to have a night out on town without the kunoichis' on their teams. Temari was left to be stuck with the pinkette and were to meet her up at the Scorpion's Inn within five minutes. She prolonged her steps a bit, not really wanting to meet the pinkette.

Temari couldn't understand the foolishness of the girl from Konoha. She remembered the pinkette to be a fangirling twat at the Chuunin exams two years ago, but what met her eyes today was a woman who had seen blood and enjoyed the colour. To act up against Gaara of all people? To the fucking Kazekage? Temari didn't know if the girl was somewhat brave or completely mental.

Gaara had went into a meeting with the four ninjas from Konoha about the recent activities of Akatsuki in the late afternoon. Temari had seen the tension before they went into his office, but the cheery laughter from that Naruto seemed to lighten the mode. Temari noted that the blond boy had matured into a somewhat handsome man, if it weren't for the marks on his cheeks and his gleeful obnoxious behaviour. She had stood outside the office and filed a few papers for her brother. She and Kankuro had become Gaara's aides in the Kazekage work, since they were both highly effective and as well as for the fact that they were two of the few people Gaara would trust standing at his side. Temari knew it hadn't been easy for him, that boy with a monster sealed inside him. But since the people of Suna respected strength more than anything, it was at the end obvious that Gaara would be elected Kazekage. Recently, there had been some disputes with other villages, the complaints directed at him for his position at such young age, complaints about them stealing their trade, amongst other things. Temari sighed as she made her way to the bar inside the inn. She saw a bundle of outrageous pink hair at a table and she wrinkled her nose. Elegantly, she walked up to the girl who had a conversation with the waitress.

"Good evening." Temari said dryly and the girl looked up from her companion.

"Oh, your friend finally came! I'll leave you guys to it. Have a great night!" The cheery blond waitress said happily and bounced away. Sakura waved and smiled.

"Good at making new friends, now are you?" Temari clipped as she sat down.

"If they don't comment on my hair, then yes." Sakura smirked and sipped from her beer. Temari wrinkled her nose, then she searched for the waitress that had been called to another table full of men. She took their order and then noted Temari's intense staring. She bounced up to them and smiled with brown eyes glittering. The girl knew how to do service, at least.

"Hello again! Have you decided? What's your order?" She asked gently.

"I'll have the same as she's got." Temari said and smiled thinly.

"Great choice! It's got a faint hint of citrus that I just love, and the hops blend so well. Oh, I'm talking too much. Coming right up!" The waitress cheered and then bounced away, yet again.

"Such innocence." Temari mumbled, more to herself than anyone else. The pinkette in front of her only regarded her. Temari felt that annoying feeling of being looked down upon and so she smiled lovingly at the girl.

"Oh, I just remembered. Didn't you go all fan girl on your former team mate, that Uchiha Sasuke? I remember him to be quite a stud. Sad to hear that he betrayed you." Temari said, testing her limits on the girl. She watched her warily, yet interested in what her reaction would be.

"I'm sorry, just two tears ago I would have given a fuck. Now I'm all dry on tears." Sakura said and drank from her beer, seemingly undisturbed. Her facade was complete and she left nothing to show. Temari felt that the girl's answer made her a bit more worthy to speak to.

"I see." Temari chuckled. The girl was more interesting than she had first thought. The waitress came up to them and didn't disturb their conversation as she only put the beverage on the table in front of the blond kunoichi.

"So how are things? Seems like the political climate is rather stiff at the moment." Sakura commented, eyeing the Suna kunoichi as she drank her beer. It tasted a bit like citrus.

"So you noticed?" Temari said and raised an eyebrow. The girl was perceptive as well, she thought as she continued. "Yes, indeed. A few little villages are trying to show off and accuse us of some petty matters."

"That must be annoying." The pink haired young woman commented and sipped from her beer.

"Yeah. Puts a bit of strain on all of us."

"Seems like they're eager to raise the bar. Do you think their intention is to declare war on Suna?" She asked and traced her beer's round edge in a circular movement with her finger tip.

"I duly hope not. Crushing flies do take a bit of an effort, if they're many." Temari sighed.

Sakura laughed. It was tingling yet dark and raspy. It was a rather sexy laugh, making a few men turn their heads in their direction at the bar.

"I heard they've gathered some allies, yes. Not any major villages as of yet, but it could turn into a bloody mess if you don't act soon." Sakura said then and her eyes were hard. No laughter was left visible on her face.

"Hm, hm. True. What would be your point of action?" Temari asked, suddenly interested in the pinkette's opinion on the matter.

"Well, I would first try to negotiate with them. Make a large meeting with all of them, create a lot of attention. Not keeping it behind closed doors. People would recognise their accusations as ridiculous and not agree with their standing. If not, I would simply display Suna's strength. Maybe in the coming Jounin exams in Suna which will occur in a few days, and crush each and every opponent. Make a show with Gaara's strength as well, perhaps." Sakura said, her posture thoughtful, then she continued.

"I would then make allies with other major villages. Konoha would be the primary choice. Having two major villages cooperating would make them shake in their boots. I would also see to have spies in their village to acquire information regarding their thoughts on the matter. But if it all comes down to it, I would fight." She ended her sentence grimly.

"That is an interesting point of action." Temari commented. She would take Sakura's plan up on the next meeting with Gaara as a recommendation. Maybe it was worth discussing.

"I heard you're still Chuunin, by the way. How come?" Temari asked as she remembered the lower rank the pinkette shouldered. At that, Sakura chuckled.

"It was necessary before. For a facade, of sorts. Though I no longer believe it to be necessary." She explained and sipped from her beer.

"Then why don't you take the next Jounin exam here in Suna? It will give you a higher ranking. Our Jounin exams deem to be a bit more... Difficult than those in Konoha, I have heard. It would also strengthen your bond to Suna." Temari suggested.

"Sounds like an idea, actually." Sakura said as her eyes lit with perked interest. Temari regarded the girl for a moment.

"I must say, you have proven to be a better company than I had expected. What changed since the Chuunin exams?" The blond kunoichi asked, sincerely curious as to her change. Sakura only looked at the blond then, her eyes suddenly unreadable.

"A lot happened. Sasuke-kun betrayed us. Naruto left to train with Jiraya. I became the Hokage's apprentice. I acquired a cursed sword. And amongst other things, I set up a few goals. And in order to accomplish them, I need to become stronger."

"So you're still in that quest for strength?" Temari asked.

"I think I will never finish that journey. It's a long way to walk."

"Just don't let it go to your head. I have seen first hand what that thirst for power may lead to." The Sunagakure kunoichi said and looked down on her hands.

"I know. That's why I have a few friends to guide me on the right path." Sakura smiled.

"Then all is good. You know, it's getting late. The boys must be back by now. Shall we?" Temari asked.

"Yeah." The pinkette said and rose from her chair, Temari following her example. As they made their way to the bar to pay their tab, Temari noted in the corner of her eye how the drinking men fell silent as they neared them.

"That's a fine piece of ass." The man with a scar on the bridge of his nose rumbled and smacked Sakura's behind loudly as she passed him. Temari felt it sting herself. He grinned slyly, as if he was satisfied with his effort, and a roaring laughter accompanied his own from his fellow drinking partners. Temari felt anger coiling in the pit of her stomach and was about to give the man a good beating, but was hindered by a scarred hand preventing her from going any further. Sakura only smiled lovingly and was about to walk away when the very same scarred man grabbed the passing blond waitress and pulled her to sit on his lap. He moved her hips against him and she yelped in disgust.

"Want some tip, sweetheart? I'll treat you some if you give me a lil' extra service." He said and grabbed her butt without inhibitions. The waitress tried to get off but the man only pulled her down as he laughed at her struggle. His hands were suddenly all over her body and she tried to push him away, but he was stronger than her and only laughed her attempts off. When the waitress got her top torn open and her bra was left visible and she blushed ashamedly, Temari swore she could hear something snap as Sakura was fast to turn around, elegantly walk up to the man and look at him with cold eyes.

"Let her go."

The waitress squealed as she felt the killing intent overwhelm the bar's atmosphere. It was like murky water trickling into the mind, as sharp pain blinded the eye. Temari shuddered. Yet the man held the waitress even closer and stared with a crooked smile at the pinkette.

"You want something, honey? A threesome, perhaps?" He asked with a syrup coated voice and his fellow companions roared. Apparently, he was an experienced shinobi, since he could take the killing intent pressing down in the room. Or he was completely oblivious and had no instinct of the feeling of a predator, Temari thought. Or maybe he underestimated her because she was a woman. The blond kunoichi felt her eye twitch.

"You have crossed the line. Way over the line." Sakura said and Temari shuddered at the coldness in her voice. In one movement, as if she were to shake his hand, she thwacked the man at the side of his neck with her hand tilted. He yelped and then his head was paralysed in a very crooked angle, his ear touching his shoulder. He wriggled in his seat but was too confused as to what had happened and the waitress found her chance to leap off his lap and away to the bar. His comrades stilled for a second, then they were off their seats and went for the pinkette with raised fists. It was like a dance, almost comical. The girl swiftly evaded the men's attacks and Temari almost swore she saw the pinkette yawn. In seconds, the men lay on the floor, grunting in pain. Temari didn't even know if they were civilians or shinobi. Sakura stood in front of the paralysed man with a crooked neck and regarded him with disgust.

"Touch a girl again against her will and next time I see you, it won't be just a crooked neck." Her frozen voice was like ice shattering the silence in the bar. The threat hung clearly in the air and the man gaped at her, then scrambled up from his seat and hurried out the door.

"Dealing with sexist pigs in a peaceful way is not exactly my forte." Sakura said and cracked her knuckles. Temari laughed whole heartedly as they left the bar after paying the tab. The waitress didn't thank them, she was quiet and confused, yet her eyes glittered. Temari would never have thought that pink would be a fearsome colour.

When they got back to the inn after having strolled around the block for a bit, Temari showing Sakura few of her favourite spots, they met a man inside Sakura's bedroom. Sakura had invited Temari over for some late night shogi playing, but it seemed like this would not happen tonight, Temari thought, as Sakura greeted her former teacher.

"Curse your hair colour!" Kakashi, a man with silver hair and a mask covering half his face, growled as he paced inside the bed room. Temari and Sakura flinched as they felt waves of anger evaporate from the famous Copy Nin.

"Pardon me?" Sakura asked, still visibly baffled at the otherwise so relaxed man.

"Mindlessly attacking a civilian of Suna? Haruno Sakura, what the hell were you thinking?" Kakashi growled at the pinkette. They stilled. Temari then gripped her shirt and raised an eyebrow. News travel fast within Suna's borders, it always has. But this must be a record, she thought.

"I can vouch for her. I witnessed the situation. The man was acting up and behaved ridiculously, he deserved it." Temari said.

"Still no reason to paralyse his neck! And his name is Ito Raigo." Kakashi snarled and pointed his Icha Icha book accusatorially at Sakura.

"It will wear off in a week. Maybe his view on the world might be straightened up as well." The Haruno girl said, a sarcastic lilt to her tone.

"Sakura. You are an ANBU, part of Team Seven, the outer face of Konoha. This is unacceptable behaviour." Kakashi replied coldly.

"I am sorry for the inconvenience. The man, Raigo you said?, was sexually harassing the waitress and I could not stop myself." Sakura said, yet her stance was not so apologetic as she stood straight.

"Please, Hatake-san. If Sakura hadn't done it, I would have." Temari interjected.

"But that did not happen, now did it?" Kakashi said grimly. "Raigo's family is of high standing within Sunagakure. They have powerful ties to the Ginkaku Clan. They want Sakura punished or banned from Suna. Either way, this will have consequences."

"I see. Then... I will accept the punishment." Sakura said and bit her lip.

"No! Sakura, you don't need to-"

"Temari-san. This matter belongs to Konohagakure." Kakashi broke her off. "Please refer from meddling in our business."

The crackle of sand told Temari who would arrive within seconds. At the same time, Naruto walked inside the room together with Sai.

"Tell me what happened." Gaara said as he appeared from flying piles of sand.

"Yeah! What's going on, 'ttebayo?" Naruto asked as he waved his hands, all wide blue eyes. Sakura turned her head and regarded the red headed man who towered over her. Her green met his icy blue.

"Me and Temari went to the bar. A man called Raigo, who was accompanied with seven other men, was drinking alcoholic beverages besides us. Raigo then pulled down a waitress-"

"And he also smacked your butt after calling it a 'fine piece of ass', Sakura. And you did nothing. You were about to walk away and let it slide but then that man sexually harassed the waitress, getting frisky without her consent and he also ripped her top open. You came back and let your killing intent out. He still showed no remorse for what he had done and then you paralysed his neck. The other men came at you and you handled them while avoiding hitting their vital points. Something I myself consider they didn't deserve." Temari clipped and elaborated on the story. Silence pressed in Sakura's rented bedroom.

Naruto's jaw dropped.

"He touched you, Sakura?" He said and Temari could hear anger rasping inside his throat. "I'm going to rip that piece of shit into shreds-"

"Now, now. Don't be hasty. We don't want another complaint from the Ginkaku Clan." Kakashi waved his hands and then looked at the pinkette with one squinting eye. "Sakura. Why didn't you tell us? This changes things considerably."

"It was irrelevant. So when he harassed the waitress, was that not good enough for you?" Sakura seethed. "Do you feel so much obliged to protecting me and only me since I am your female teammate? Does one girl working at a bar _not matter_?"

"Sakura-"

"It's not-"

"The man Raigo will be punished." Gaara broke off the heated discussion with one single sentence. Everyone in the room looked at him.

"His behaviour was not acceptable. Harassment against male nor female will not be tolerated in Suna. The waitress will be compensated accordingly." Gaara concluded.

"That is a wise decision, however, I believe I have already punished him enough." Sakura said, yet she smiled gently at Gaara.

"You are to reverse his neck into a healthy state. Then he will visit the Prison of Suna for a week. I believe his stay there will teach him a thing or two."

"Isn't that a bit too much? I hear there are considerably dangerous missing nin residing in there." Sai asked, oblivious to the glances he got.

"Maybe. But this will also set a statuary example. Sexual harassment will be punishable from now on in Suna, since it hasn't been before. Now, I have matters to take care of. Good night." Gaara stated and turned around. Temari got up quick from the chair and followed Gaara out the door. When they were descending the steps she neared him. She noted how he needed to gather strength to make his sand stand back and not attack her.

"We will need to gather the Elders for this new law proposition." She mumbled and Gaara nodded. Temari saw that he was clenching his fist as they went out on the moon lit street.

* * *

_The Fox Boy Uzumaki Naruto_

In the early morning the next day Naruto jumped around excitedly in the corridor, eager for the first morning practice with the new Team Seven members, having completely forgotten the mess of yesterday. He bounced inside the pinkette's hostel room and made his way over to Sakura's bed and shook her shoulder lightly.

"Time to wake up, sunshine! Come on, come on. It's almost sun rise." He cheered and earned a sudden hard smack on his head, making him wobble down on the wooden floor from the force of it. He felt a large bump protrude on the top of his blond spiky head. Surprised, he suspiciously watched the blanket covered form of Sakura. A sound was produced from the huddled form and the clenched fist that had hit him retracted back into the covered depths of blankets.

"Hn."

Naruto almost laughed out straight as he got up from the floor and swiftly yanked away her covers, leaving her visible with murderous green eyes and ruffled pink hair. She wore a grey top and shorts and with a groan she turned her head away from the stark sun light shedding inside the room.

"It's amazing how Sasuke-like you are in the morning, Sakura-chan." He chirped and she grumbled, as she angrily reached for the covers in his hands. He jumped gallantly away, her fingers touching nothing but air. An even more murderous sound was heard from the depths of her throat and Naruto almost felt cold sweat break at the nape of his neck as she rose from the comfortable bed to sit and she stared at him. Pale, green eyes. Maybe he had gotten himself in too deep waters.

"Good morning, idiot." She said instead of declaring her never ending hatred for him, or kill him on the spot, which he had expected her to do, as she rose slowly from her sleeping mattress. She shuffled away from the bed as she yawned, grumbling something about Izanami finally letting her off training for once and sleep without dreams, and went into the bathroom, then shut the door gently.

"Don't you dare fall asleep in the bathtub, Sakura-chan." Naruto howled and went out of her room with a grin on his face as he heard her snarl from inside the bathroom.

One hour later on the training grounds Naruto, Sai and Sakura was gathered. Kakashi had said that morning he was to meet up with an old friend so he would miss the training session, not that Naruto really minded. Sakura called forth her summonings as she bit her thumb and reached the bloodied finger to her neck, closed her eyes and mumbled an incantation. A lightning sparked through the air with a large crackling sound and in a puff of smoke, four handsome men stood in front of Naruto.

"Good day, Sakura. Is it time for a training session?" A man with spiky white hair asked as he looked around.

"Yes." Sakura said shortly and wielded her katana. A black haired, tanned and scarred man got out a large sledge hammer from his hilt and went away a few yards and started practicing several moves. The red haired man who had a constant frown on his handsome features went to the sole tree and sat down as he closed his eyes in the shade of the tree.

"Hey! Which one of you is Seiryu?" Naruto yelled excitedly.

"That would be my name." The tallest man amongst the group of Celestial Beasts answered and stepped forward. He had long azure coloured hair and he emanated such powerful presence Naruto almost yelped.

"Can you transform into a dragon? Just once? Please." Naruto pleaded.

"No." The beautiful man said and turned around, walked a distance to a sand dune and sat down to meditate. Naruto was baffled, but couldn't really press the matter any further since he knew he'd see it one day. He'd just have to wait. The white haired man jumped up into the tree and settled on a branch, a straw in his mouth.

When Naruto took a water break from sparring with Sai, he watched as Sakura performed a few complex katas with her sword as she swiftly danced in the stark light of the sun in the desert. Grains of sand sprinkled away when she whirled around and pushed her feet into the ground.

"That move was exaggerated." Suzaku, the frowning red haired man, drawled from the shadows of the tree, his eyes burning amber when he gazed at her. Naruto looked over at the red haired beautiful man curiously as he clunked some water down.

"Huh?" Sakura turned around to glare at him, sweat making her pink hair plaster on her forehead.

"Your sword style is insufficient, human. It's _sloppy_." He added and rose from his meditative position on the little patch of dried grass under the single tree in the desert area.

"I-" Sakura started, but was cut off with a snort.

"Do you even have a sword style? It looks inelegant and only instinctive." Suzaku said as he leaned against the tree, looking down on her with frowning, arrogant eyes.

"I'm self-taught, Suzaku-sama. I'm sorry if it displeases you." She said through gritted teeth.

"Oh get over yourself, Suzaku." Byakko grumbled from up in the tree, where he rested on a tree branch with a straw in his mouth.

"Why don't you teach her your sword style? Whatever it was called, fire blooming or some other clichéd shit." Genbu ruffed and snorted loudly when he appeared to them, from having practiced with his sledge hammer a few yards away. Deep marks on the ground showed where he had used the force of it, similar to claw marks.

"Pff. My sword style is too complex for a mere human." Suzaku sniffed and wrinkled his nose.

"You need see past your preconceived ideas about your celestial status, Suzaku. She is our contractor now. The least you can do is to show her respect." Seiryu's cold and startling voice rumbled through the clearing when he appeared from behind the large frame of Genbu. The other heavenly animals almost flinched. The azure dragon was back from meditating on a sand dune and his presence was overwhelming.

"Yes, Seiryu, but still-" Suzaku started hesitantly, but the pinkette broke him off short sentence.

"It is all right. I know I need to practice on my sword style and stances. I will train harder, Suzaku-sama." Sakura said lowly as she looked down on the sandy ground. Suzaku gazed at her in silence, his yellow eyes piercing her.

"Hn. Maybe I can teach you the few basics. It will be difficult and it is probably impossible for you, but maybe we can get your sword style to be plausible at least."

"Ah. Thank you, Suzaku-sama. I will try my hardest." She nodded with her head, a faint smile spreading on her pink lips.

"Drop the suffix, Haruno. We are your equals now, as our contract states." Byakko said as he gnawed on the straw up in the tree. "No matter how much Suzaku will miss the suffix."

"Quit it, Byakko. If she respects me then it is by all means right to address me accordingly." Suzaku snapped. Byakko huffed and closed his eyes, instead deciding to ignore the vermillion bird. Naruto continued to watch as he felt the sweat on his forehead dry in the merciless sun. Sakura stood side by side with Suzaku and he positioned her hands right until he was pleased.

"Make a series of katas. The most basic you know." Suzaku drawled.

Sakura flowed on the sands, her movements fluent and not yanking, her steps were light on the mischievous sands and Naruto realised she pushed chakra to her feet to keep from sinking in. He cursed himself for not having thought about it earlier. When he got back to sparring with Sai he wouldn't fall in one of that jerk's sand traps. He had sand in places he didn't even know existed on his body. Sakura moved again and the katana reflected the sun and stung Naruto's eyes yet he didn't look away. When she was finished, she was sweating a bit. Suzaku frowned again and sighed as he went up to her panting form. The white top she wore clung to her salty skin and she wiped a hand across her forehead.

"Hm. It was acceptable basic moves. But, initially, you need to be in rhythm with Izanami."  
"How?" Sakura huffed.

"First of all, right now, you are only using her as a means of a weapon. A simple junk of metal. But she is alive and so much more than that and you need to dance with her, not by yourself. She is a fallen Goddess and you're not using her to the fullest potential. I think you two should have a talk about the Merge." Suzaku said.  
"The what?"  
"Oh, how clueless you are. Take a moment to talk with her about the Merge, she will understand. However, I myself don't comprehend why she hasn't talked with you about it yet." The vermillion bird said thoughtfully.

"Okay, sure. Just a moment, then." Sakura said, drew her sword again and closed her eyes.

* * *

_The Goddess of Death Izanami_

She had tired of sitting on her throne of skulls and diamonds in her imaginary Underworld. The large halls of the Darkness was sculpted with exquisite patterns on the walls, a few sculptures displaying winged creatures with horns and swords, the candle lights flickered in the stillness with a blue light. When she moved slightly on her seat of death, the sound echoed in the empty palace halls. The barbaric rituals of violence seethed quietly inside the marble walls. It had been soothing at first, being reminded of the powerful Goddess she was and her dark home in the veils of the earth, but it had gotten boring now. It had gotten boring for a long, long time now.

She huffed and stood up. In a flash, she changed the scenario in her mind, distorting the image of the Underworld. It was night in the human world. She stood in the middle of a field which stretched as far as her eyes could see and the grass was covered in old blood. Corpses had been left to rot on the grass and they had been eaten by scavenger animals. Some were dismembered, some were burnt. She looked up in her memory of the clear night sky. Stars covered every part of the universe and shone. The moon was thin and not full as of yet. Izanami settled down and let her white yukata fold over the wet grass as she lay down on her back. It had just rained. She felt the grass under her palms, it smelt of fresh leaves and metallic liquid and she stared into the never ending sky. Then she started counting the stars. It was soothing it its own way.

A painful memory flashed inside her and she grunted in pain. That sky lit night thousands of years ago he had held her in his arms, kissed her senseless and then he had told her that night that he would stop loving her when she had counted every star in the sky. And she was lost in his fire.

She stopped counting the stars and showed her teeth in a painful grimace.

Lies lies lies lies lies

It's all lies!

Why did he torment her so - still? After all these centuries and millennia, how come it still affected her so? Boiling hatred for the world seethed in her chest. Only blood could numb her pain, only screams of suffering could lessen her raw feelings, only carnage could make her into nothing. It was so dark, so dark, dark dark dark

"Izanami-sama?"

A voice tingled inside her imaginary world and she consciously thrashed away the abandoned sky lit battlefield, turning her consciousness into a murky atmosphere without time and space. The girl hesitantly bowed as she appeared and then looked at her with apple green eyes. Izanami floated above her.

"What is it?" Izanami asked irritably. "You know better than to disturb me while in my mindscape."

"I apologise for my sudden appearance. I just wanted to talk about the Merge."

"The Merge, you say?" Izanami said and pondered for a second. "Who told you about it?"

"Suzaku-dono did."

"I see. That little bird, if anyone, would know about it. It is a long forgotten technique."

"I do not know what it is. Suzaku-dono would not tell me." Sakura said lowly, hanging with her head. Ashamed of her ignorance.

"Of course you don't. Well, the Merge is basically our chakras fusing together while fighting. It would boost your energies and I would be one with you, even more so than now. We would share one mind. In that way, if we manage to achieve it, we would dance as one."

"I see. And that would aid us in battle?"

"Yes, very much so. But it is extremely difficult to Merge since every shinobi's chakras are different and flows in separate currents. And since I am a fallen Goddess, my powers might overrule yours. I would not mind taking over your body and destroy your mind, but we have a contract of blood and life. I will not break my promise to you."

"That... That is a relief. Then- Do you think it would be possible for us to achieve the Merge? Without you overruling me that is." She asked hesitantly.

"It is difficult to say." Izanami drawled as she observed her finger nails. They were dirty.

"I am willing to try." Sakura's voice echoed in the murky atmosphere and Izanami looked at the pinkette. Her voice had been made of determination, iron hard will, knocking away any doubt.

Izanami silently looked at the girl and suddenly, as if the girl broke, she caught Izanami's black eyes with her own and they were accusing her of the world put on her shoulders.

"I still have seven hundred and thirty one lives to extinguish. But who am I to kill these pitiful mounds of flesh and dreams? To claim these mournful desires?" She asked lowly and her eyes were pained, her voice being more of a whisper than anything.

"You are a means for me to sate my hunger, of course. To sate my need for cleaning these filthy soils of the world." Izanami clicked her tongue. Sakura only watched her.

"When did your hatred seep into your being?" She asked, eyes so pale green, so pale. "When did you learn the taste of blood was satisfying on your finger tips?"

"I have no obligation to you, girl, whatsoever to let you in on it." Izanami clipped.

"No. I believe I have a right to know. The blood is no longer on your hands only; it is smeared on mine own. The least little thing you can give me is the reason why." The pinkette craved of her.

"If you knew the reason why, it still would not change anything. Their deaths will always be on your consciousness." Izanami pointed out causally. The girl flinched.

"I am aware of it. Yet I still... I still need to know." She then said and stared at the fallen goddess of carnage. Izanami cocked her head to the side.

"Well, well. If you wish to know that much... I concede, then." Izanami replied and held her gaze with steely composure.

"Eternities ago I was in love with a man. We cherished each other to the point of sharing heart beats. We loved unconditionally, at the beginning of everything, of time and space. But when the day came for me to give birth to our child of fire, I died. I died in flames. And when I woke up in the Underworld, I thought all was lost. I no longer desired to move, to speak. I ate the fruits of the Underworld and I became one with the darkness. Then one day or night or just one moment, I didn't know, he was there. He declared he would bring me back and that everything would be as it were before. I was such a fool, falling for him time and time again, such a _fool_. He gave me that spiteful thing called hope. When we were about to leave he saw what I had become within the darkness, as he turned around when I had warned him not to. He saw my rotting flesh, he saw the maggots crawling on my once beautiful skin and he was disgusted. He saw me in the embrace of Death and his love for me did not reach so far as to accept me veiled in the darkness of the earth."

Izanami glanced away into the darkness of the murky atmosphere, her eyes blank, unseeing, and then she continued her tale of sorrow.

"He turned and ran away from me and I called for him, not wanting to understand his faded and frayed love for me, I ran and stumbled and I lost him. My lingering love vanished when I reached the entrance to Death, the gates between the living and the dead, and my love was replaced with mournful hatred for the man I once cherished with my own life. I could no longer reach him. But since my life was no more and I was but a shadow of who I once were, I became an abyss of murdering desire. I promised him to take thousands of lives and he promised to give the lives of more when he blocked the entrance to Death. After that I grew powerful as I fed off dead things beneath the earth and managed to surface in the lands of the living. We met on battlefields of humans after that, battle after battle I claimed so many lives. Each time, when one human joined the darkness under my hands, I felt that this time maybe he would look at me. Maybe he would see me. But he turned away, never taking note of me, and produced another life to be condemned into this world."

Silence pressed between the two women, one ancient and one still new to the world and its hardships. Izanami breathed lightly and she knew the red ruby on her forehead was glowing. The ruby which had once been a sapphire, that had changed because of her changed heart. The diamond that had been since coloured crimson by her hatred.

"He left you." Sakura said and let tears fall from her eyes, like clear jewelled droplets. Izanami almost flinched. The girl cried for _her_? For a _demon_? Izanami snorted.

"He did. And I will never stop ravaging the world." She concluded and looked down on the pink haired girl. Her green eyes shimmered with tears.

"The man you once loved... Was Izanagi." Sakura breathed and realised it was true.

"Yes." Izanami sighed her answer.

"What would you do if you met him today?" The girl dared to ask after a bit of contemplation and Izanami chuckled, more to herself than at the girl. A smirk played on her pouty lips.

"I would obliterate him. Destroy him completely, utterly. I would not allow for him to come to the Underworld, that would be far too merciful. He wouldn't simply die, he would _vanish _from existence all together." She laughed again. The girl only looked at her with eyes of sadness and Izanami silently cursed the girl. How would she know? How would she know that blood was the only thing that could soothe her pain? Numb her aching heart?

"No more of this. So now you know about my reason. We'll talk about the Merge later. Head back." Izanami snarled and the darkness pressed around them harder and the girl shrunk as she felt it come on to her. One last glance at the girl made Izanami stop when she floated away. The tears on her cheeks had dried and her eyes looked at the goddess with a different light. And then she was swallowed by the coiling charcoal black smoke.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Long time no hear peepz! Thanks for sticking with me.

There seems to be a slight misconception about relationships among the reviewers. A relationship does not mean that the two depend on each other, and in this case it would not mean for Sakura to be 'taken care of'. A relationship is about trust in each other and not about control. If Sakura is to be in a relationship with anyone, she will still be free. Love has no boundaries, yes?

Now, to the poll!

No, Sakura doesn't need to fall in love -** 6 votes**

Sakura should fall in love with:

:::Neji::: **6 votes**

:::Sasuke::: **6 votes**

:::Shika::: **4 votes**

:::Kakashi::: **3 votes**

:::Ino::: **2 votes**

:::Itachi::: **2 votes**

:::Sai::: **1 vote**

Conclusion to this; I'm getting more and more confused lol. Maybe I'll just fuck it all up and make her all emotionless and make a harem of guys follow her around like lovestruck puppies. But at least I'm getting at what kind of direction you guys want this fic to take!

A warning for you all; I will add a darker touch in parts of the upcoming chapters. It will be necessary for the story's progression as well as Sakura's growth. I am sorry if you dislike the more morbid happenings, but I assure you the darkness won't have a recurring role in this fanfic. I tend to blend a bit of everything into my stories, so there will be light moments as well as dark ones, just like life. (Clichéd I know)

And once again, I thank every single one of you reviewers and readers. You can't even begin to comprehend how much you lift me up.

As always as well, please give some constructive criticism if seen needed. I always want to improve and if you feel like you're missing something in my chapters, please tell! I would really appreciate it.

I'm in a bit of a struggle with life now, and that's why it's taken a bit of time to get this chapter out here and it will take a bit of time for the next one as well. I'm actually writing most of the parts on my phone while I'm out smoking. Somehow, I feel more inspired on my balcony than on my kitchen table.

Love you guys,

fascalia

— — — UPDATE — — —

To one reviewer: This story is not Canon compliant, meaning that Sakura is by no means meant to end up with Sasuke only because Kishimoto made it so. I also believe their reunion and marriage and what not was too shallow and quite meek. I was very disappointed with it actually.

**THE POLL HAS NOW ENDED**  
I have decided on the pairing now, thereby ending the poll. To me it seems to be too many contradicting opinions about Sakura's love life and therefore I have decided to be all dictatorial and decide myself. However, I have read all of your reviews and will take your wishes into consideration. I'm not revealing now on what I have decided, you'll just have to wait and see guys! ;)


	13. The Sweetest Poison

**Transition**

Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.

Chapter 13

The Sweetest Poison

Through the Eyes of a Boy Who Was Once Loved, an Old Puppeteer and the Red Scorpion

* * *

_The Fox Boy Uzumaki Naruto_

When she came back and her eyes were green again, she slid the katana back into its scabbard, her eyes were distant and thoughtful. Naruto cleared his throat and the vermillion man waited patiently with knitted eyebrows in front of the girl. Had he seen her eyes flash white when she had opened them?

"You seem a bit out of it. You alright?" Naruto worried his lip and shook her gently. She blinked.

"Oh. Yeah! I'm fine, I'm fine. Just- had my mind elsewhere." Sakura said and smiled reassuringly, absentmindedly stroking the hilt of her katana.

"So what did she tell you?" Naruto inquired and Sakura chewed her lip.

"The Merge is a technique where my chakras and Izanami's blend together in its currents, similar to a dam opening in different directions, giving my body and mind a boost of sorts." She explained and cracked her neck.

"That is correct. She told you about the repercussions as well?" Suzaku asked, his arms crossed over his chest. The other celestials had gone back to training and took no note of what occurred behind the single tree.

"Yes. She said there was a large risk for her overruling me and taking over my body." The pinkette replied and squinted her eyes at the horizon, watching Genbu perform a few rough and powerful movements with his sledge hammer.

"Then don't do it!" Naruto exclaimed. "That's obvious. It's too large a risk."

"Well, she promised me to not take over. Since we're in a contract bound by blood. So I'm considering doing it..." Sakura said and her smile was slanted.

"What, wait. Do you really trust her words?" Naruto asked, unbelieving.

"Yes. Somehow, I do."

"That is good, then. I will now teach you the basics of my sword technique _Ephemeral Sun Dance_. We'll just go through the first five movements, then you will have to train them on your own until they are perfected. If you ever will perfect them to my satisfaction, then I will teach you five more. There are a total of 66 moves on the first level. Understood?"

"Yes!" Sakura smiled and her little dance she made out of sheer happiness surprised Naruto, her spinning around in the sand and laughing with pink hair whirling around her creamily tinted face. She was as glad as a Naruto who had just gotten a steamy cup of noodles from Ichiraku's after a long mission.

Deciding he had been resting for too long and wondering if Sai had passed out due to the heat a few yards away, Naruto went back to go spar against Sai. It was interesting fighting living drawings of lions and birds and serpents, but he would draw his final card now. Sai sweated in the sun, practicing throwing kunai at his drawings of little birds in the sky. When he noticed Naruto approaching, the fox boy's grin widened.

"_Sexy no Jutsu_!"

* * *

_The Boy Who Was Once Loved_

The midday sun shone starkly through the large windows of his office and he moved uneasily around, letting his sands slither around his feet unconsciously. His composure was failing him. The newly acquired information on Akatsuki and the little villages wanting to wage war against Suna was seriously pissing him off.

"So, what you're saying is that for some purpose unknown, the Akatsuki members are wandering around killing off jinchuuriki containers." The pinkette stated, rather than questioned him. The four Konohagakure shinobi was gathered in his office, his two siblings were at his side and they all wore serious expressions.

"Correct." Gaara said and turned his back to the window, to look at the shinobi in his room of power.

"We need more information on this." Kakashi mumbled. Naruto frowned and stared at Gaara, as if he stared long enough, he'd know the reason why.

"More importantly, we need to be careful. If they're strong enough to kill off jinchuuriki containers, then that means both Naruto and Gaara are in danger." The pinkette commented, her green eyes clear.

"They would not be so foolish as to attack the Kazekage!" Kankuro exclaimed.

"But we don't know that. Maybe they have the guts and power to do it. Better be careful, than to regret it afterwards." Sakura clipped.

"What she's saying is true. Kazekage-sama, it would be for the better to level up the security around Suna and position more bodyguards on watch." Sai said and watched as Gaara nodded.

"That has already been taken care of." Temari said and cracked her knuckles. The red headed young man raised an eye brow at this and Temari chuckled behind her fan.

"Being one step ahead is my job, brother." She smiled and Gaara felt his trust deepen for the blonde. She was still afraid of him, he could see, but all the same she was trying hard for his sake.

"So, what's going to be our next move? 'ttebayo, I say we search for _them_ and change the game!" Naruto cheered and fist pumped, his eyes burning. Gaara saw in his cerulean blue eyes that he was sad, he was sad for the two jinchuuriki containers that had died and he had never even met them. Gaara realised that it was this part of Naruto that had made him see him as a friend. His softness. His compassion. His fire.

"That'd be fun. A little Akatsuki hunt." Sakura agreed and her eyes glittered. At that, Gaara almost smirked. This pinkette that proved so much more bloodthirsty than what she first had given the impression of, that little sprinkle of insanity in her emerald eyes and yet, yet he saw how much she cared for her teammates. She was not so lost as he had once been. Shukaku growled inside him and Gaara ignored the caged monster.

"That might not be very wise, since we do not know how powerful they are. But- if we indeed find one or two Akatsuki members, it would be perfect for interrogation." Kakashi mused, his eye thoughtful as his gaze seemingly unconsciously found Sakura. She smiled innocently at him and he sharply turned his head away.

"I agree. Let us turn the tables. I suggest that we form a team, that will have only one purpose and that is to track down Akatsuki members and cage them for interrogation. If needed be, you have my permission to kill them in case of emergency." Gaara stated and the rest of the shinobi nodded in agreement.

"That means that Naruto cannot be on the team, though. It would be far too dangerous." Sai concluded and Naruto was about to protest, but Kakashi waved with his hand, stopping his words.

"What Sai is saying is true. Naruto, you must go back to Konoha." The Copy Nin drawled.

"No! I'm in on this too!" Naruto yelled. "I'm much stronger now than before. I can handle them." He seethed, clenching his fists. Sakura only looked at him with pale eyes.

"Please. If not for my own sake, I want to do it for the fallen jinchuuriki containers and their beasts. I feel like I owe it to them." The Kyuubi container almost whispered, something he was not too often prone to do. The room fell silent.

"We could have use for his powers." Sakura stated and twirled a pink lock around her fingers. "We could also use him as a decoy, to lure those bastards out from whatever shit hole they're hiding in."

Gaara thought about her statement for a second and saw the advantage in doing so. Searching for Akatsuki would most probably be difficult since they had their ways of disappearing. If Akatsuki got the information of Naruto being outside of Konoha, they wouldn't miss the chance.

"It would be more efficient that way." Sakura said and scratched her pink head.

"Dattebayo, I'm going to be bait?" Naruto asked grumpily, yet he hid a smile.

"It is still too dangerous." Kakashi said and frowned. "But I get your point. We have no idea where Akatsuki might be. If we could construct a trap..."

Gaara saw the Copy Nin's mind at work and then it was agreed that Naruto was to be on the team. The Kazekage only needed to look at his siblings questioningly, and they voiced their thoughts on the matter.

"I volunteer on being on the track team." Temari said confidently and Kankuro sighed.

"I guess I'm going as well." He grumbled. "We need to find replacements for our positions..."

"I need you here, Kankuro. As head of security, in case Akatsuki finds their way here. Your orders are to get the fight out of Suna if it happens. No harm will come to Sunagakure's population." Gaara demanded and Kankuro swallowed.

"I will gather a few of Sunagakure's stronger shinobi for the track team's back up." The Kazekage said. "We'll meet up within forty minutes from now. Be prepared for travel. I will see to having spread some rumours of Naruto's presence in Suna, and we'll see how it goes from there. I believe that it would be for the better to make it looked like Team Seven are travelling back to Konoha and then we could make use of the decoy plan on the way, instead of bringing Akatsuki to Suna where civilians might get hurt."

"Sounds good." Kakashi said and the Konohagakure shinobi bowed respectfully to the Kazekage and disappeared from his office.

Gaara mused for a few seconds, then he decided. "Call for Chiyo. She will accompany the Konohagakure shinobi in the track team. We could make use of her poisons, and puppets in tracking the members."

"But Gaara, she's retired." Temari commented. "If not dead. Who knows about that old hag."

"Hey. She and her brother has served Suna for a long time. Don't talk about her that way." Kankuro scolded his sister and tapped Gaara's office desk.

"Yeah, yeah." Temari said bitterly. "Whatever."

"You're just pissed at her because she tricked you." Kankuro smirked and patted her head.

"It's not funny fooling people that they're _dead_!" Temari yelled with flushed cheeks.

Gaara hid a soft smile as he watched his arguing siblings and cleared his throat. The two Suna shinobi froze and then straightened up.

"I will call for her, Gaara-sama. But it is not certain she will agree." Temari said politely.

"Then make her." The Kazekage said and gracefully went to sit at his office desk, starting to file a few papers. That was his siblings cue to leave, and so they did. Gaara was left alone in his office and he sighed.

* * *

_An Old Puppeteer_

Quiet.

The silence was always so welcome to her tired ears, as she sat at the fishing pond with no bait on her fishing rod. Ears that had become so used to screams and the clashing of metal against metal. To the hollow sobs of dying soldiers. To her puppets clawing through flesh. To the poison she had concocted seething and bubbling in enemy soldiers veins, thrashing down their systems and organs withering.

Her brother was nearly asleep as he sat besides her with his own fishing rod and she smiled half heartedly. They were too old, both of them. But the the will to live had yet to be extinguished in them. Steps in a not so far distance broke the comfortable silence and Chiyo wrinkled her eyebrows and smirked playfully as she recognised the chakra presence. She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing until it was almost non-existent.

"Chiyo-baa sama?" A female voice inquired and the old woman felt Temari standing besides her. She did not answer her, as she sat completely still.

"Chiyo-baa sama? Hello? Oi!" Temari continued and Chiyo heard hints of discomfort in her voice.

"Oh, god. Don't play tricks with me! It won't work this time. You're not dead, you old-" Temari snarled and then she noted Chiyo's chakras were nonexistent and that the old woman didn't breath.

"No. No, you won't fool me... Chiyo-baa sama? Fuck. Fuck." Temari said and hesitated, then she bent over in front of Chiyo's face, to probably take her pulse.

"Pah!" Chiyo yelled and opened her eyes, and as she did Temari fell with a most hilarious expression on her face into the pond. The old woman cackled whole heartedly as she watched the famous fan wielding kunoichi of Suna boil angrily in the water, dripping wet.

Temari scowled and shook her clothes as she rose from the water and waddled up to the waterside. With mischievous eyes Chiyo watched the blond kunoichi and shake off the water and her pride, cleared her throat and applied a polite expression on her dripping face.

"We've just recently heard a two manned team from Akatsuki has been sighted near the borders of Suna. One is a long haired blond and the other a strange crouching man with a cloth covering his mouth. We are dispatched at the moment you decide to join us, Chiyo-baa sama."

"A crouching man, you say?" Chiyo sniffed. If what she suspected was true, if it truly was _him_...

"I will join you little youngsters. For this one time." Chiyo said and slowly rose from her sitting position, poking on her brother who only muttered sleepy threats. She gave up on telling him she was leaving for Sunagakure's sake once again and then she looked at the kunoichi standing patiently a bit further away from the pond.

"But my bones are tired and weary. Carry me." Chiyo complained and arched her back with a grimace, yet she smirked behind her old woman facade and Temari grit her teeth visibly, clearly thinking it was beneath her to carry an old woman. Yet she huffed and heavily pulled Chiyo on her back and walked briskly away to the gates of Suna all the while explaining that they were to join a team from Konohagakure.

Chiyo sniffed. Konohagakure, was it? She had no higher expectations from them than from a toad. She recalled the war and she could never see them as anything more than those who murdered her friends. The swollen red sun hung in the sky as they shuffled up to the gates, where a crowd of shinobi stood and waited for them. Temari bit her lip and coughed as she walked up to them with Chiyo on her back. With one swift movement, the old woman jumped from the girl's back and flung herself through the air and gracefully landed before the Konoha shinobi. A flash of silver had her eyes stop at a masked man and her heart froze. _Hatake Sakumo_? But when she took a closer look at the man, she knew it was not _him_ and she retracted her poisoned senbon she had readied within her sleeve.

It was the Copy Nin, not the man who had killed her family. Chiyo was fast to come to this conclusion and she twitched her fingers. She had been too near to kill him on sight. The team greeted her politely and she only nodded curtly. An outrageous colour in her peripheral vision made her turn her head and a girl stared back at her, a girl with pink hair and pale green eyes. Chiyo cackled loudly and looked condescendingly at the girl. Temari had told her about that one.

"Pinky. I heard you were the apprentice of that slug-girl." The old kunoichi snorted. "Such a useless blond woman. Can't even tolerate the sight of blood."

"Don't talk about Tsunade that way." The pinkette's voice was suddenly chilly, slithering and dangerous. Her eyes were scarce, empty green.

"Easy now. We fought in the war. It is hard to see past enemy facades." Chiyo wrinkled her eye brows. "She used to counter my poisons quite well."

"I expect no less from Tsunade. I'm Sakura, by the way." Sakura smiled and her dangerous tone dropped. The blond boy nodded jerkily, his blue eyes shining.

"Baa-chan's awesome." He agreed and then looked at the man who was so similar to the murderer of Chiyo's family. "Are we going or what?"

"Yes, now everyone's gathered. We're heading for the mountain pass. Let's go!"

As they ran together, Chiyo fell in pace at the back of the team together with the pink haired girl. Temari ran side by side with the pale stomach showing man, and Kakashi lead the group at the front together with Naruto. With a glance at her side, Chiyo noted the girl's hands and the sword strapped at her back. It was a strange sword, old and withered, yet it looked like it almost was vibrating. This perked the old woman's hard won interest.

"Your hands. They're calloused from sword use." Chiyo noted. "It is most uncommon for kunoichi to use swords."  
"Just so." The pink haired woman replied casually and didn't take her eyes off the sandy road.  
"How come it is your weapon of choice?" The old woman inquired as she paved her feet lightly into the soil, easily keeping up with the track team.  
"I just got my hands on an unique katana a while back. It's a good one and it would be foolish of me not to make use of it."

"I see. And that is the one strapped on your back?" Chiyo presumed.  
"Yes." Sakura said and glanced at Chiyo, her hair swirling around her face. "I have heard of you. Your weapons are puppets and poisons."  
"Correct, Pinky." Chiyo chuckled. Her old reputation had apparently reached Konoha's younger generation.  
"Interesting. I have never seen a true puppeteer in action." The pinkette commented.  
"Then I hope you will not have the chance to." The old woman's smile turned slanted.

A sudden pitch of chakra caught Chiyo's attention and she looked ahead of her. She saw a man with a black cloak walk towards them, the cloth stretching and rippling in the wind from the south. When he noticed the team of shinobi approaching him, he leered and waved with his hand. A deformity of sorts, or an implant, was visible on it. An open mouth laughed in the palm of his hand, a tongue slithering across its teeth. Chiyo felt disgust well up in her throat.

"That's an Akatsuki dude!" Naruto yelled and shot off directly, shortly followed by Kakashi, Sai and Temari. Chiyo and Sakura stopped at the same time, to watch. The blond Akatsuki member raised an eyebrow and laughed. He then produced large amounts of clay from a pocket, fast to chew and spit it out. The clay took the form of a large bird and he settled on it, the bird of clay flapping its wings and within seconds it was in the air. The batting of clay wings created currents of wind in the air as it soared higher.

"We're following him. Stay put. The information we attained says there's a second Akatsuki member around somewhere. If you see him, call for reinforcements and watch him; but whatever you do, do not instigate battle." Kakashi ordered the two women as he looked up into the sky, where the clay bird flapped away to the south. Towards Sunagakure.

"Roger that." Sakura smiled sweetly, and it seemed the silver haired man did not notice the slight pressure of disappointment in her voice. Chiyo wrinkled her eyebrows.  
"We're going to catch him." Kakashi assured them and then he flashed away, joining the others as they followed the blond Akatsuki member which perched on the clay bird.

As they watched the team disappear fast between high sand dunes, Sakura poked Chiyo on her shoulder.  
"We have company." She smiled and just as she said this, a shadow appeared besides them. Chiyo swiftly spun around only to see a crouching man with the standard black Akatsuki cloak, rimmed with red clouds at the hem, approaching them casually as if he had all the time in the world. The man looked more like a monster than anything and Chiyo's suspicions proved to be true. She recognised the form.

They were near the mountain and a sudden explosion, probably set off by the flick of the monster's tail, made rubbles of stones fall from the walls, the probability of it having been several explosive tags came to Chiyo's mind. Sakura evaded the falling rocks fluently, Chiyo got hit by a few but she cared nonetheless for her wounds and they saw the crouching man walk inside the cave. Chiyo squinted her eyes and the pink haired woman nodded, as they followed after the Akatsuki member. Cautiously, Chiyo searched for traps with her eyes.

"Injuries?" Sakura asked the old woman, her eyes clouded by the dust.

"A busted lip and broken skin, nothing severe." Chiyo dismissed her wounds with a wave of her hand as they were inside the cave. The Akatsuki member waited for them in the dar end of the cave. Her grandchild's puppet looked at them silently and Chiyo felt her fingers numbing, getting colder. Oh, that child. Abandoned and lonely, crazed by his family's death.

"Sasori..." Chiyo whispered and the puppet didn't move in response. Sakura blinked at her side, not asking how come she knew him.

"Nothing is new under the sun, it seems." A light, emotionless voice was heard from somewhere Chiyo couldn't identify. Was he hiding inside his puppet? Or was he at a safe distance away, watching them? Suddenly, the crouching man produced a pipe from under his coat and something whistled in the still air of the cave.

"What are you doing?" Chiyo asked warily as she saw the pink haired woman react to the pipe instantly.

"_Libelulle Noir_. It is a most effective jutsu." Sakura explained as she formed seals with her fingers in a blur; dragon, fish, dragonfly, tiger. "You'll see."

A stark fog seeped from every corner of the cave, and it was strange. The fog was similar to thousands of black dragonflies bunched up in clouds, covering Chiyo's vision completely. It was like the night itself had turned into dragonflies.

"It dispels the more common poisons, as the one he just produced from that pipe, and works as an escape manoeuvre. I've developed it myself."

"That is impressive." Chiyo commented. "After all, a woman with a gallant spirit matching any man's is a rarity indeed."  
"Are you kidding me?" Sakura laughed unabashedly, the sound tingling through the air. "Then you haven't met a whole lot of men."

"You should be more attentive to your surroundings." That light voice was heard again and the swishing sound of projectiles made the two kunoichi aware of the kunais heading towards them. Sakura broke her concentration as well as her jutsu of black dragonflies and evaded the kunais, as did Chiyo as she hopped further away, and then even further. Suddenly, a rock that had been left unsteady from the explosions fell in front of Chiyo, blocking the entrance to the cave. She cursed loudly and started searching for a way to get inside. The girl had to manage on her own for a while, and she prayed that the girl would survive.

* * *

_The Scorpion of the Red Sands Sasori_

The second gas he had produced when his grandmother was out of the way, the lethal black one, cleared and there she was, with a finely plucked and pink raised eyebrow. As if asking '_was that it?_'.

"This can't be. You're supposed to be dead." Sasori said sternly, his fingers twitching. He had dropped his crouching monster puppet form and now used it as his shield against her katana and as an offensive weapon with his chakra strings connected to his finger tips. He stood in his complete puppet form, his ageless wooden and porcelain skin shining dense in the murkiness of the cave, his hair a ever vermillion red. His poisonous gas was supposed to have finished her as it evaporated and only left a distinct smell of rotting apples.

"Oh? How come? Because of this little gas?" The pinkette laughed.

"It's my most prominent Araignée poison in its gas form. You.. should have fallen."  
"You mean Araignée de Sang? Ah, I ate that for breakfast this morning."

"You- ate- Are you a Black Widow?"

"No, but my friend is. She suggested some extra spices in my food to put up a resistance. There are not many poisons that will kill me, just perhaps give me a slightly annoying headache."

Sasori had enough of talking. If she wasn't dead now, she would be later this day. For a long while, they fought. Then she found his heart and he realised he was not immortal.

"Number two hundred and seventy one." Was the last words Sasori of the Red Sands heard before his mind slipped away into darkness, never to awake again.

* * *

_The Puppeteer Chiyo_

Her grandchild was dead and she mourned him. But she knew it had to be done. One silent tear slipped from her eye down her wrinkled cheek.

The Konoha nin headed back to their village after having lost sight of the blond Akatsuki member on the bird of clay and Chiyo wished they would never return. All which those Konoha shinobi brought with them was the shadow of death. And that shadow was the most visible in a pair of pale, green eyes.

* * *

_The Man with a Borrowed Eye Hatake Kakashi_

The messenger hawk flapped away into the sunset and Kakashi felt his chest burn, caused by the written words in the report from the Godaime as they were headed back to Konoha. But this changed everything. They had found him. With a clap of his hands, he caught the attention of his tired teammates.

"Trustworthy intel says we have acquired the location of Orochimaru's hidden lair. We are the closest to the site and will proceed in our current team. We will also move on with caution since this is a wanted criminal and missing nin of Konoha. On orders from the Hokage, we are to catch Orochimaru on sight. This applies to Uchiha Sasuke and Yakushi Kabuto as well." Kakashi stated coldly and silence pressed.

"Teme!" Naruto yelled, his eyes burning. "I'm going to get him back, 'ttebayo!"

"What are we waiting for? Let's go." Sakura said evenly and her eyes were unreadable. Sai said nothing.

"Follow after me." Kakashi commanded and disappeared in a flash through the trees, his teammates following close behind. He was still angry with his pink haired former student. She had disobeyed him, having gone into battle with an Akatsuki member so foolishly. But the outcome had been different than what he would have suspected; she had killed him. And all this made her even so more dangerous; an disobedient killer. Kakashi only hoped she would come to her senses. Instead of thinking about the Haruno, he started focusing on finding Sasuke.

* * *

_The Man with a Name Sai_

They ran within the lair, through long corridors that never seemed to end, never stopping their search for the Uchiha. After a long while they stopped for a short break and they were all tired of searching. With a vein pulsing at Banshee's forehead, she kindly asked permission to destroy the place and lure out the rats. Kakashi had pondered for a second, since they had been searching to no avail for the last hour, and he said yes. With a shout of '_shannaro_', Sakura smashed the ground and it shook to pieces in explosions. They were all fast to evade falling rocks and slid across the shaking walls, until they were out of the now destroyed lair of Orochimaru's.

In the rubble left of the hideout, the sun shone dimly on the crevices and cracks. All drenched in sweat, Team Seven breathed heavily and their eyes soared through the destruction, looking for every sign, every movement that would tell them there was more to this than stones and misguided information. As always, that Banshee's strength was incredible, Sai thought as he saw parts of the ground fall through a few corridors, crashing loudly with dust piles spiralling through the air. Then three figures appeared, almost out of nowhere, and he could almost touch the thick tension in the air as his team members realised who was meeting their gazes.

The survivor of the Uchiha massacre stood only ten feet away, on a rock looming over them together with a tall, sickly looking man with long black hair and snake-like eyes as well as a man with glasses and silver hair. Naruto yelled something, Kakashi commented on something, Sakura was quiet, but Sai couldn't hear them. All he was focused on was the two bloody eyed Sharingan eyes, which were deep whirl pools of hatred and lustful revenge. His face was as cold as snow on a winter morning, expressionless yet filled to the brink of dark determination.

Sai clenched his fists. The time had come for him to fulfil his orders. The man called Uchiha Sasuke would die this day and in that complete the mission Assassination of the Last Fan. Sai would not disappoint Danzō and nothing would stop him from slitting the defector's throat if Sakura failed to do so.

* * *

_The Avenger Uchiha Sasuke _

"Oh-oh, the Kyuubi container pleases us with a visit. How endearing." Orochimaru said and let his snake-like eyes slither across Naruto's form. The boy grit his teeth and anger burned in his cerulean blue eyes. "Ah, and the famous Copy Nin as well. What a little feast."

Not until then had Sasuke seen the pink haired kunoichi from his old team. Her presence was almost unnoticeable, as she stood and watched him silently. She hadn't said a word. Her eyes were more pale than he remembered them to be.

"Hn."

Naruto looked helplessly at his female teammate with pleading sky blue eyes.

"Please translate Sasuke for me." He asked of his pink haired friend, pointing accusatorially at the dangerous man on the other side of the cave. Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"You need to be highly perceptive, look for every sign. I believe the slightest twist of his mouth means powerful resentment. I think I could correctly translate that little 'Hn' to 'I will kill you, stop bothering me'. Or it might mean 'I'm grumpy today because there's a giant stick up my ass, so fuck off'."

"Oh, I see! Cheers, Sakura-chan. I think the latter translation would be correct." Naruto chirped and grinned obnoxiously. It seemed Orochimaru had tired of his former team's mindless chatter already as he waved his hands.

"Sasuke-kun. You may play with the little girl and your replacement in your former team. I'll go take care of these pests." Orochimaru purred and whirled away, to clash his sword with Kakashi's kunai. Naruto yelled as a snake slithered towards him, with gaping jaws and dripping poison. He kicked it away furiously, so it hit the wall of rocks hard.

"No! I'm going to fight Sasuke-Teme!" The blond Kyuubi container shouted as he tried to get past Orochimaru, but the Snake Sannin wouldn't let him.

"I will not allow you to do so, boy. I don't want my dear Sasuke-kun to scar his face nor dirty his hands with your impure blood."

Sasuke's replacement produced a few painted lions and Sasuke simply slashed them away, noticing the trap wires strapped to them. In a flicker, he used Kusanagi to gather the wires and whipped them away, towards the replacer. Sasuke's replacement in team Seven didn't have the time to evade and was trapped within his own iron wires, slicing his skin as he was stuck on the wall of the cave. Sasuke smirked arrogantly as he saw blood trickle down the man's body, like spider web it spread down on his visible muscled abdomen.

Naruto was busy plopping Kagebunshins everywhere together with Kakashi as they fought Kabuto and Orochimaru, and didn't see the replacer fall in blood on the wall of stone. But that annoying girl did. She didn't scream and didn't cry, but he saw her eyes burn even though they stood a hundred feet away from each other. And then something in her eyes switched. They turned white.

She was about to sprint to where the replacer were pinned unconscious at the cave wall, but he wouldn't let her heal him. Sasuke swiftly spun around, meeting her katana with his own. Sparks flew off the metals. In a blur, he retracted and met her sword again, harder this time. She held up and it surprised him slightly that she hadn't been swept away by the force. Her eyes glistened like hard edged diamonds. There was a slight sheen of sweat on her tense arms. He continued with the flurry of attacks, yet she either met them or evaded them with a centimetres advantage. In a movement, she jumped back several feet, her eyes wide eyed as she stared at Kusanagi with confusion. Sasuke was about to jump after her, but then he was disturbed by her wave of her hand.

"You can't be serious." She whispered and somehow, Sasuke knew it wasn't directed at him. He stopped. At whom she had directed the words, he didn't know. Her eyes were so eerily pearly white, similar to a Hyuuga's opalescent eyes with the exception of the black pupil being left, all predatory like in her eyes. Was it some kind of kekkei genkai?

"Is that katana Izanagi? You're- What do you mean you can't fight him-" She was cut short, her moon white eyes widening as they stared at his sword. Suddenly, Kusanagi hummed in his grip. He felt something within the sword convulse at the mention of 'Izanagi'. It was like it was trying to tell him something, but he couldn't hear it. Something, a black maze of hatred within his chest, hindered the sword's sounds from reaching him. He shrugged.

She was talking to herself again, muttering and cursing as she looked at her katana.

"Your chakra is acting up, Izanami-sama. What is- It's a turmoil! Please calm yourself-" The pinkette stared confusedly at the sword and Sasuke had had enough of this game.

She was fast, he admitted, but he was faster. He went after her, flash stepped in front of her, and succeeded in slicing a shallow wound on her side when she tried to evade it. Blood squirted from her skin, drenching the white in red trails. He took his chance and was at her again, yet she didn't back down as he slashed at her again, evading it as she stepped to one side within millimetres reach of Kusanagi. Her eyes gleamed and she focused on him wholly. Then she opened her mouth as she met his sword with her own. Sasuke noted that Kusanagi and Sakura's sword were eerily similar.

"I have something important I need to tell you, Sasuke-kun," She declared as she sifted through a flurry of dispelling jutsus to avoid his Sharingan's power as he cast simple genjutsu techniques, hazing her mind at the same time as they fought with swords. "The man you want to kill, your brother-"

"Don't you dare go there." Sasuke clipped.

"But you must know-"

"There's nothing you can say that will change my mind! That man is going to die. There is nothing else I must know, Sa-ku-ra." He said icily and flung himself at annoying woman knew how to open wounds. How to open his door to hatred and unwanted memories. She was supposed to heal, not claw her way trough his flesh and find what he most desired and hated. The desire to kill. The hatred that consumed him. He knew this and he revelled in it, since he knew no other feeling that could fill his heart to its completion. Other feelings were meek and fragile. His were strong.

"You truly are blind, Sasuke. Would you just listen-" Sakura's voice grew a pitch higher, apparently she had started to get annoyed too, but he broke her off.

"Shut up." The revenger said and he was tired of her voice already. It was distracting and it didn't belong in the echoes of the dark cave.

He heard explosions and cries from the other side of the cave, where Kakashi and Naruto battled Orochimaru and Kabuto. Naruto's kage bunshins swelled within the cave, shouting and cursing the 'perverted snake pedophile'. Sasuke felt his mouth stretch. He cursed his lack of concentration on his own fight as he felt Sakura's sword lightly touch his shoulder in a blur of movement. A shallow wound, but a wound all the same, let three droplets of clear blood run down his slender yet muscled arm.

It seemed Sakura was just as surprised as he was when he retracted, holding his hand over the injury as he jumped back, away from her. He settled on a large rock, looking down on her. He could see she was exhausted from the fight, yet her white eyes never left his. She breathed heavily and readied herself for another flurry of attacks and he himself started to gather the Chidori within Kusanagi. He would end this charade - he was tired of surprises. In the corner of his eye, he felt Orochimaru's presence.

He saw the fast and gigantic snake before she did. In one swift aggressive movement, the huge animal summoning of Orochimaru's snaked up to her and the large jaws clipped her torso at the side, sinking its teeth deep into her flesh. Her eyes widened with surprise as she looked down on Hebimaru's death grip on her body, clenching hard. She yelped in pain, then she shuddered violently and her eyes rolled up in her head leaving her unconscious in the snake's bite. Hebimaru let her go, the sharp and large teeth slipping out of her with a sickening sound and red blood and Sasuke saw holes left of its teeth left on Sakura's small frame in a half moon shape. The wounds bled ominously and he knew that if the wounds didn't kill her, the unrivalled deadly poison of Hebimaru's glands would. Her katana clinked to the rocky ground as she fell.

He felt something in his heart protest, clench in coldness. Sakura would die this day. He had not planned on it, it wasn't part of his goal. His impassive eyes regarded her slumped form on the stony ground, letting the water of her life pool around her so still, still body. She was an annoying hindrance, always a grain of sand in his eyes, but still he couldn't get that so very strange and heavy feeling off his chest. His Sharingan eyes burned. In that moment, his hatred for the world deepened. His heart, his mind, his whole being was a black never ending abyss. He lost himself in the blackness, he couldn't see the light anymore. It was plainly gone. He couldn't see the colours anymore.

A painful cry broke the silence. Naruto's kage bunshins disappeared in a cloud of smoke and in an instant, he cradled Sakura in his arms. Sasuke saw tears dribble down on the scarred cheeks of the Kyuubi container as he rocked the girl back and forth. Her body was limp in his arms and the blood on her hideous wounds coloured his neon orange jacket into a scarlet nuance.

Orochimaru was instantly besides him, laying a hand on his shoulder. Sasuke didn't look at his teacher. His eyes were still at Naruto's huddled form, and the splay of pink hair covering Naruto's shaking shoulder.

"You're still too weak. We're going." Orochimaru said, his snake eyes calling back Hebimaru who waited patiently at his side. The snake poofed out of existence. Kabuto showed up, bleeding from several claw marks on his arms. He pushed his glasses up his nose and regarded Sasuke with unhidden contempt.

"This is your baggage, Sasuke-kun. I don't want anything to do with them again. Next time - Kill. Them. _Off_." He said sharply, healing his wounds absentmindedly but with gritted teeth. Sasuke still said nothing.

Naruto's chakra suddenly flared. Red burning chakra covered his whole body, bubbling with inhibited power, protruding ominously. He gave another cry, of malice and ill intent and sadness and anger. Sasuke saw the first tail of the Kyuubi's chakra lash out into existence. He was turning.

"Oh _shit_." Kabuto wheezed as a wall of red chakra hit them with full force, making Kabuto almost topple over. Sasuke felt Kusanagi hum, as if appreciating the force.

"We're going. Now." Orochimaru said sternly and he dragged Sasuke away, gripping his shoulder hard, into the forest, away from the destroyed cave. Sasuke felt his mind cloud, as if he couldn't think straight. It was all just a jumble of thoughts and nothingness and blurriness. All that was displayed on his inner retina was a bleeding girl with pink hair and _she wasn't moving_. His foot steps were light as they were trained to be, he ran fast together with Orochimaru and Kabuto without knowing really what he was doing. Where he was going.

All he knew was that he was running away from a dying girl and a fox.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hello!

I have horrible news. I think I'm transitioning into a Writer's Block. Oh the fucking horror. It might have been caused by the latest reviews and I just feel much more pressured than before, I'm not sure. One reviewer said the quality of grammar has been declining and I sincerely apologize for that. I haven't noticed it. I just write as I normally do and I always ask if any of you notice any errors. Please, please tell me specifically and I will adjust it!

I love to write, I do, but there's always that moment when you feel like it's not worth it, you know? I spend hours on unpaid work. I enjoy it, I do! But it's just- sometimes, I feel really ugh, unappreciated? I think many writers can relate to this feeling here. So you probably know what I'm babbling about.

But this is not true to all reviewers. I receive love all the way from you guys. And you should know I write almost solely for your sake.

**The poll has ended by the way.** I know now what you guys want and I've become more confused as I said in last chapter's A/N, haha. Harem-Cold-Ass Sakura might happen yo.

I have gotten a Beta Reader as well! Say hello to **eiramrose** ! She's wonderful and has given me awesome feedback. Kisses to her!

Sorry for the short-ass chapter, because as I told you, upcoming Writer's Block. Can feel it in my numbing fingers. If any of you guys want to shoot off ideas with me on what's to come in Transition, do feel free to PM me. I might be able to get past this Writer's Block faster that way.

Love ya,  
fascalia


	14. Hollow Failure

**Transition**

Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.

Chapter 14

Hollow Failure

Through the Eyes of a Boy a Fox Boy, a Passing Bird and a Man of Shadows

* * *

_The Man With a Borrowed Eye Hatake Kakashi_

Naruto howled, his chakra shooting off the perimeter with waves of roiling power and Kakashi felt his mind work a million times faster than what he was used to. He was tired and wounded, injuries inflicted by Kabuto's chakra scalpels and Orochimaru's forbidden jutsus hindered his movements, yet he had to work this out. Kakashi grit his teeth as he remembered the messenger hawk that had delivered the scroll of information of the hideout. Tsunade had written in the scroll that she would send a backup immediately and the backup was supposed to have arrived thirty minutes ago at Orochimaru's hideout, but the sent man was nowhere to be seen.

Spiking chakra told Kakashi of Naruto's second tail protruding and the boy growled as he nuzzled into Sakura's messy hair, her body unmoving. His teeth that was left visible in his growl had become pointy and canine-like. It was then that Kakashi realised Sakura was not just unconscious; she was bleeding from a large snake bite mark surrounding her torso. Kakashi felt his breathing speed up, hitch, as realisation dawned on him like lightning. He felt his heart thrum like the batting of wings. She couldn't be. She just couldn't be. He hadn't told her he was sorry for yelling at her yet, for hating her a few seconds, for disrespecting her. He hadn't told her that she actually did matter to him. He hadn't even-

"Hatake Kakashi, I presume. I am the sent Mokuton user, Yamato is my name. On orders of Godaime-sama I am here to aid." A man presented himself to Kakashi as he appeared besides him on a rock and Kakashi cursed himself as he hadn't even noticed the man's chakra signature, too enveloped in his dark and stressed thoughts. The man had dark brown hair, large black eyes and a pale complexion, donning Konoha Jounin attire as well as the common hitai-ate. Kakashi blinked as Naruto growled somewhere, holding a dead girl in his arms.

"How can you help me?" He asked, his voice void of emotion. Empty. Lost.

"It seems the Kyuubi container has lost control. I have Hashirama's cells within me which means I am a natural energies user; I may be able to strengthen the seal on Uzumaki's stomach." Yamato said as his fingers went through different seals directed at the Kyuubi container and Kakashi saw how the man strained himself, large chunks of tree shooting off from the ground, capturing a howling Naruto in a cage, constricting his movements but not for long. Half of the man called Yamato's chakra reserves went to the completion of the seal and Naruto snarled, his chakra rippling underneath the Kyuubi's red chakra as he clawed at the thick tree bars. Then with a scream, too animalistic to have been Naruto's, the Kyuubi container fell inside the cage of trees and the red chakra was swept into a whirlpool into his stomach.

Kakashi sprinted to both Naruto and Sakura shortly followed by Yamato, as the blond boy slumped unconscious into the tree prison. Yamato dispelled the cage and the trees disappeared into the ground where they had come from. Kakashi was fast to check that Naruto was fine and unconscious before he went straight to Sakura's limp body. The bloody marks from the snake's bite still bled, yet not as feverishly as before. He felt with his fingers on her forehead, finding his hand slick with her sweat. She was burning, still warm.

And then he heard it. Her heart beat.

* * *

"So you eat poisons?" Kakashi said and he sighed with a tugging smile coming on to his lips. She just kept doing that thing, making his interest perk in her direction.

"Yes, daily, in tiny bits within my food. Luckily, however, the snake that bit me didn't produce enough amounts of poisons to kill me. I'll keep hallucinating for a while, and my body temperature will change drastically, but it'll be fine if I get some medical treatment back in Konoha. Well, I would have died as well had I not chakra enhanced my inner organs in the last second." Sakura said unsteadily into his silver hair as he carried her on his back, piggyback style. She had refused at first, but when he had propositioned to carry her like a princess instead, bridal style, she had snorted and climbed onto his back. He was careful when he jumped in the trees, careful not to hop so that she rocked on his back. She gripped around his throat tightly, connecting her hands so that she would not fall. She was hurting, but she didn't show it.

"And those bite marks, you'll have to see to them too. They'll scar, you know." Sai commented with a weak voice, as he was carried by Yamato in a similar fashion to Sakura's and Kakashi's. Yamato had a bit medical knowledge and had produced a few herbs that stopped Sai's blood flow from his wounds due to the wires that Sasuke had flung back at him. He was near the brink to having an acute need of a medic, Sakura being too weak and wounded to heal, but it was fine for the moment. Naruto was the only one not being carried nor carrying, as he jumped in the middle of the three pairs of feet touching the ground. He had regenerated quickly and his wounds were nonexistent now, all because of the cursed and blessed chakra of the Kyuubi. He was eerily quite, for being Naruto. The appearance of Sasuke, the confusion that had arisen when Sakura had gotten bitten, all these things were probably being processed in his mind.

"Yes, the scars will make lovely patterns on my body." Sakura smiled tenderly as she gripped her hands tighter around Kakashi's throat.

"I kept thinking about one thing before. Why does your eyes get white like that? I saw it when you fought Sasuke-teme." Naruto asked, not wanting to talk about their failure of the retrieving mission. Not wanting to talk about Sasuke-teme escaping their hands once again. About their wounds. About the sting of Sasuke leaving them again, time and time again. None wanted to talk about it.

"I think it's the bloodlust. Izanami gets ahead of herself when she sees blood and this affects my mind. When her bloodlust seeps into me, it triggers my own want for.. death. I am not sure why they turn white though, I didn't even know they did until someone commented on it. They just feel hot and jagged." She said and her voice was so thin, Naruto had almost not heard it.

"You know, they say that the eyes are the windows to your soul." Kakashi said as he jumped over a fallen log in the trees, making the canopy graze his and Sakura's head softly.

"Yeah, and so white is the colour of death." Sakura muttered as she looked up from Kakashi's back, into the shafts of light falling through the foliage of the trees, the image blurring as they sped up.

"White also symbolises freedom." Sai added weakly, as he bumped around on Yamato's back a few trees away. Kakashi thought Yamato was not as gentle as he should be.

"And salvation. I think." Naruto said and thought it to be true. The pink haired kunoichi didn't reply. Kakashi was reminded of kekkei genkais being similarly described as she had, but he dismissed the thought.

For a while, they said nothing. The silence was contemplating and they were all thinking of what had happened the past few days. And the Konoha shinobi all knew they had failed.

"Next time." Sakura whispered and they all understood what she meant by it.

* * *

_The Man with a Name Sai_

"Defeat is only the opportunity for improvement!" Naruto said and his eyes burned as they sprinted through the Sekai forest, nearing home. None answered him, only nodding tiredly at his never ending energy of the sun. Sai knew then that Naruto would try and try again until he had Sasuke back in Konoha, in both body and heart. He would either kick the Uchiha all the way back or talk him to death. Either way, he would never stop trying.

Sai tried to understand this concept of bonds Naruto had so exhaustingly tried to explain to him during their stay in Suna. That this bond Naruto shared with Sasuke made them fight and come together, as magnets always clashing. That there was no way he saw his future as the Hokage of Konoha without Sasuke at his side. That they understood each other. Sai wondered where that left Sakura, since Naruto never described her as a magnet. Sai, for the first time in a long while, felt something in his chest. He recognised it as a feeling, not an upcoming illness. At least he had learnt that much about emotions and the workings of the body. He felt the clarity of the failure. And he knew that Danzō would be disappointed, to a point where he would be punished. But Sai was not... sorry.

He thought that Sasuke maybe could be saved and by that he needed to be alive. Sai couldn't imagine what Naruto would do if Sai had succeeded in killing the Uchiha. What he would have done if Sakura had killed the defector. She had fought but it hadn't been enough. The Uchiha was by far stronger than her, which really shouldn't be a surprise. Sakura came from a small and weak Clan that had turned into civilians, she was no prodigy, had no kekkei genkai, did not have a beast inside her with the exception of the demon goddess within her sword. She also seemed not have had the opportunity to call for her summons, and also since summoning them took a great deal of chakra. Naruto and Sasuke played at another level entirely, two powerhouses that left no room for an ordinary kunoichi.

Yet a nagging feeling in the back of Sai's mind made him hesitate on this conclusion. What was inhuman about Sakura was her never failing determination. What was unnerving about her was the will to prove herself. What had made her be accepted into Root was her willingness to crush all opposition, fast and cruel as he remembered her ceremonial trial. Her snapping the neck of the recruit at her side in the blink of an eye. Her crushing the other recruit's throat with her foot. Never hesitating, she ploughed forward. Swallowing the pills of life and death and she never looked back, never regretting. That was what made her have the slightest chance to nullify the workings of magnetism of bonds between Naruto and Sasuke. A saying goes 'what is good is always three' but Sai wondered about the truth in that, as he wobbled on the back of the running man called Yamato who had saved them from the Kyuubi in Naruto from coming out.

When they neared the gates of Konoha, Sai passed out.

* * *

_A Passing Bird_

The rain fell heavy on the village of leaves. The chatter on the ceiling panels was all that was heard in the silent apartment as a young woman stood in the stillness in front of a mirror. The crying of the heavens sang its dirge of premonition. A heavy sigh was heard and the woman undressed in front of the mirror. She stood then in only her undergarments and regarded her body in the reflection.

At the side of her stomach, a fresh and grotesque half moon shaped bite marked scar was visible in the pale moon light that shed its luminescence inside the room. Her creamy skin adorned several other scars, left to stay without a second thought, as a reminder of battles fought. She slowly touched the scars on her stomach, each bite mark that had left deep holes in her body she grazed each with her finger tips. Her green eyes were thoughtful as she continued to trace her scarred body.

Then her fingers stopped and she looked at her right palm. Another deep gash was visible there, a pink tinted slash across her palm. Her eyes fluttered to a katana which was positioned on a small altar at the foot of her bed. The presence of the sword was similar to an eagle, the King of the Sky, and the bird shuddered. Her eyes became the darkest gates to the abyss.

She clenched her fist then, and turned her head away. She quickly dressed into a top and shorts, and shuffled to her bed. When she lied down, she didn't close her eyes. She was very still and one could almost not see her breathe. Her eyes were tired, but clearly green. Then, as if she prepared herself for battle in cold determination, she closed her eyes and was asleep instantly.

The bird then flapped away into the night, away from the woman's window sill, feeling strangely at peace with itself as it flew in the chaos of raindrops.

* * *

_The Man of Shadows Shimura Danzō_

He had given too much trust to the girl, he had relied on her too much. Returning without the blood of the Uchiha on her hands had disappointed him deeply, more so than he had counted on. He had expected so much from that kunoichi and he cursed himself for almost believing in the girl. She had failed him. He needed to reprimand her for her incapability as disappointment flooded his mind.

He called for her to arrive in the ceremonial trial room days after her arrival back to the village from the failed mission, the room where she had proven her place within Root. And now she was to be reminded of the consequences for failure within the organisation in the very same room.

The night had fallen and he had gathered the more important members of Root to attend to the punishment. Haruno Sakura bowed to him in the middle of the room in respect and submission, and in her movements he saw she was as of yet not completely healed from the wound she had acquired by a mere snake. Maybe she was already aware of her coming judgement, he thought, as her jaw was tight. The ANBU captains and higher ups within Root stood at his side, not knowing exactly what would take place that night.

"I trusted in your abilities, Haruno Sakura. You proved me wrong. Failure will never be accepted in Root." He said and regarded her petite form. The blank mask was strapped at the side of her head, unveiling her pink long hair that cascaded down her shoulders.

"You will be accordingly punished for your failure." He concluded and the men at his side flinched. Most knew of the punishments dealt by himself was not easy to walk away from. If at all.

"Strip." He then stated and the men at his side snapped their heads up, looking at him with blank expressions. The Haruno girl's eyes widened slightly. Then she bowed again and hesitantly took off her mask completely. She put it down on the floor, leaving it there as the only thing that blocked the other captains view of her facial expressions. Danzō's hard eye followed her movements.

"_All of it_." He then said and shattered the silence in the room. Her green eyes went to his and she saw his objective for what it was. Humiliation. She looked down on her black turtleneck top and in one swift movement, she undressed the top over her head. Standing with only her chest bindings and her loose hakamas, she folded her top carefully and placed it on the floor, next to her blank mask. The men in the room watched her then pull down her hakamas without hesitation and she folded them as well, laying them on the ground. She stood with her chest bindings and under garments only, in the middle of the room. She looked one last time at Danzō, and then she stripped her chest bindings off along with her under garments.

Her body was completely bare and blatantly displayed creamy pale skin, adorned with several pink scars on her flesh and one impressive half moon shaped bite mark on her torso. In all of her nakedness she stood almost proudly, yet Danzō saw the burning in her eyes, in her defiant stance. It seemed she refused to give in to the apparent humiliating act, refused to acknowledge the dishonouring of her body being shown so mercilessly to a group of unknown men. She was however, what Danzō knew other men would say, beautiful in all of her glory. She had shapely slender legs, a slight hour glass form, tenderly sculpted muscles on her abdomen, protruding breasts and a thin neck. But her body was tainted with ugly scars. The ANBU captain Fuyu sniffed and changed his stance.

Danzō then tucked out the whip from his belt. It was a sleek and long whip, battered from use, with additional shards of glass fastened at the end of the tail to further the damage and deepen the inflicted wounds. The glass shards stuck out like sharp teeth from the hardened leather of the whip. The Haruno girl looked at the whip with emotionless, impassive sapphire like eyes yet her stance slightly straightened in preparation. The muscles in her neck strained and betrayed her unafraid eyes.

"You will count each whip lash loudly. One hundred lashes will be exacted. If you miss to say the number of the current lash, or is unable to, I will start over again. Is this clear?"

"Yes, Danzō-sama." She clipped. The Root member closest at his side turned his head over to him. The emotionless facade of the Root member called Shigemi coldly looked at him.

"At twenty-five lashes the voice can no longer scream. The screaming only ever lasts for a little while, because then the strength to scream dissipates caused by the pain. It leaves no strength left to give release of the pain in the vocal chords." He stated. "The pain tolerance reaches its peak at thirty. Fifty lashes makes the hardest Root member pass out."

Danzō only gave Shigemi a raised eye brow.

"I will not question your objectives for this punishment of the kunoichi, Danzō-sama. But a hundred lashes might make her unable to continue with her shinobi career." He explained.

"Then don't ask unnecessary questions, Shigemi, if your intention is not to go against my decision."

"Y-yes, Danzō-sama."

Giving the backing man one last hard glance, Danzō walked up to the naked young woman. Shigemi bowed his head down, not wanting to disrespect him. Danzō peered down on the girl in front of him. Having taken away her dignity, she still stood straight.

"Lay on the floor on your stomach." He ordered her and she obeyed, laying flat on the mats of the cold floor. Her pink hair settled around her head in swirls. Then one of his attendants scurried over on cue, placing large metal spikes at her hands and feet. He was fast to hammer down the spikes hard into the floor, making them stuck. He then produced chakra restraining chains and hand cuffs and clipped them first at her wrists, locking them at the large metal spikes, and then fastened them to her ankles. She couldn't move as she was shackled harshly to the ground, splayed on the floor in the form of a X. Danzō stood, looming over the girl's pale and slightly voluptuous naked body, and tried the whip in the air once. The crackle of the whip snapping into the air made the girl's slight form wince. He grit his teeth. His right arm was used to dealing similar punishments, but he knew he would acquire sore muscles after this night.

"The punishment of Haruno Sakura begins now, with one hundred lashes exacted on her body for her failure of assassinating a missing nin." He said and landed the first whip lash on her back, thwacking open her tender skin. The glass shards made a shallow wound bleed a little as he retracted the whip's tail and the girl yelped in pain, yet she showed no other signs of distress. The lash left a trickle of blood and flushed skin on her pale shoulder, contrasting the stark red liquid and the almost white colour of her skin.

"_One_." She snarled and he could hear how she clenched her jaw.

What was left on the floor mats of the ceremonial trial room was large amounts of crimson blood splatter and in the atmosphere was the fading crackling sounds and echoes of one hundred and thirteen whip lashes. What was left inside the empty room was the loss of innocence, a harsh reminder to never fail and a kunoichi's frayed dignity.

* * *

_The Cloud Watching Boy Nara Shikamaru_

"Sakura?"

When she stumbled inside his apartment without knocking, he knew he shouldn't ask. She was broken. To the core. He could see it in her faded eyes and she let her facade blatantly fall. Her eyes seemed to ask for salvation and he wasn't sure he would be able to give it to her. He cradled her in his arms as they sat on his couch. Her embrace was weak and she grit her teeth. For the first time since that day so long ago Sakura had killed five missing nin with white eyes staring blankly at the blood soiled ground, she cried. She hulked and cried heavily into the hole of his neck and he let her. When he snaked his arm over her shoulder, to steady her, to comfort her, she winced. Shikamaru looked over her shoulder and saw bandages cover her back in the glimpse of her top's opening.

"It's okay to break." He whispered and anger knotted twists and twists in his stomach as he pondered on who might have done this to the girl. Who might have broken her this much, to this extent, who had hurt her this fatally.

"Break. And grow stronger again. Patch up the pieces left." He murmured and hugged her even more tightly, though avoiding to press on her bandaged back. She responded by almost breaking his neck when she hugged him tighter, the sobs making her whole body shake. He let her break him even though it hurt, as she was even more broken.

"I'll hold you together."

Moments went by and her sobs and tears made his shoulder wet, yet he didn't care. He stroked the back of her pink hair, holding her closely to him. This was the first time they had been this near, the first time he had comforted her in his arms. He smelt the apple shampoo in her hair, the dirt on her body, the metallic scent of washed blood and soap. Then he realised what was missing.

"Where's Izanami?" He mumbled, not remembering the last time he had seen her without the powerful katana strapped on her back. The demon goddess was always with her, yet now it was blaring with its absence. It was like a part of her was missing.

"I can't let her see me like this." Sakura breathed shallowly at his skin and he understood, somewhat. Izanami highly disapproved of weakness, and the girl in his arms right now was the epitome of it in the demon's eyes. Shikamaru, however, thought that was not the case. This girl was stronger than anyone he had ever met. She was strong since she had been holding up for so long and she was strong since she let herself break in his arms. She was strong because she accepted her weakness, her destroyed state, and let him see it. Sharing her pain with him made Shikamaru sigh in a complex kind of relief as he continued to embrace her.

"Thank you, Shika." She hiccuped and slowly, slowly her sobs started to lessen in frequency. "The memory of this day is what will give me courage. To never fail. To never be at the mercy of someone else." She said with a raspy voice into his shoulder, filled to the brink with unwavering determination.

And he believed in her.

* * *

_The Man with a Name Sai_

"Hey, something's been bothering me. Where's Sakura-chan? She's been gone a lot lately since we came back." Naruto chewed on the dango in his mouth, having his arms behind his head in a very Shikamaru-like manner. Naruto and Sai made their way from the dango shop in the bustling streets of Konoha, heading to the training grounds.  
"I hear she's been with Godaime-sama and Mr. Shady in a lot of meetings." Sai pointed out as he took a delicate bite off his own dango. Naruto snorted.

"Who's 'Mr. Shady'? Another of your weird nicknames." Naruto giggled with the dango in his mouth, making the giggle come out a bit muffled.

"Mr. Shady is actually Ugly's nickname for Shimura Danzō." Sai explained and gulped the bite. Naruto stopped walking, the dango left unbitten in his gaping mouth.  
"What? Why is Sakura-chan meeting with him? That creepy, old bandaged man." He exclaimed as he fanned the dango stick in front of Sai's face.

"You didn't know, Dickless?" The Root member asked, his emotionless expression looking at the fox boy.  
"What?" Naruto said irritably.

"She's been in Root for over a year now. I was there when her ceremonial trial took place. Didn't you know this? I thought..." Sai trailed off, looking down on his feet with creased eye brows.  
"What? I- She never told me! In _Root_? Are you sure? What the _hell_-" Naruto startled and waved his hands angrily and confusedly in the air, but he was cut short on his upcoming rant by Sai putting his index finger over the Kyuubi container's mouth in a silencing gesture.

"Hush. We're not supposed to talk about this. But I thought... you should know. Since you two are what one would call '_friends_'." He said and retracted his finger from the blond man's mouth, wiping it on his shirt.  
"Gods. Yes, we're friends, Sai. But what is Sakura-chan up to? How'd she get into Root? That bloody fucked up organisation." Naruto bombarded the emotionless man with questions.

"Danzō took an interest in her some year ago and... he asked her to join us, to support Konoha from the shadows. She accepted and passed the trial." Sai explained, looking back over his shoulder.

"Why-Why did Danzō take an interest in her? Do I... even want to know?" Naruto bit his lip, looking at the dango in his hand, contemplating.  
"She was openly hateful towards the Hokage's reign, saying it was too soft a rule. She was a bit rebellious and it lead to the Godaime dismissing her apprenticeship. Also, Sakura successfully completed an A-ranked mission in Snow, killing the Daimyo there and in doing so she proved her efficiency as a shinobi. So I presume Danzō saw something in her."

"She was hateful towards baa-chan?" Naruto asked, not quite believing it. "There must be a reason why. When I met them before in the office, they seemed to have a really great relationship. Baa-chan seemed to be at ease with Sakura-chan and the other way around. I can't see them hating each other."

"That's right. I have been thinking about it. And it just might be so... That it was all an act."  
"An _act_? Why?"

"So that Danzō would take an interest in her. Maybe, and this is just my own speculations, she is on an undercover mission within Root on orders of the Godaime. That would explain a lot."

"Oh. But- Wow. Yeah. That actually seems plausible." Naruto winced and realised it was probably true. "But why? I know Danzō's not a great guy, since he's all shady and stuff... But is it really necessary to go so far as to spy on him?"

"Probably. Perhaps. I don't know all the facts." Sai said exasperatedly, which was an incredible feat in Sai's limited emotions spectre. Naruto almost snorted.

* * *

_The Man of Shadows Shimura Danzō_

Danzō had put the girl on executioner work in T&amp;I. He had contacts therein and they allowed her to pass, even though she hadn't been properly educated in Torture and Interrogation's intern programme. She helped torture a few missing nin with her katana every night. It proved to be most effective, and nowadays she didn't even need the two poisons she had developed. She managed fairly good on her own with her taunting and questions and her slicing and just her plain presence.

Danzō attended the execution she held this night when she terminated a prisoner she had finished interrogating and he somewhat agreed with the slight hint of disgust in the other interrogator's eyes, eyes that had probably seen similar interrogations in his time as an interrogator. Just not quite like this one. The prisoner was cut up into shreds. Bleeding from far too many places, his skin pale and bluish due to severe blood loss. His eyes had no lust for life and they were so tired of pain and sharp edged swords. She finished the man cleanly, with one precise slit of the katana at the man's throat when she had pressed the last tidbit of information from him, making him useless alive. She sliced the life giving vein that gave blood to the heart and in the prisoner's eyes, he thanked her for finally ending it and giving him his freedom, freedom from pain and freedom to sleep forever.

"Three hundred and sixty four." She said casually and wiped off the katana with a cloth absentmindedly. She tossed the cloth in a trash bin, slid her katana back into its scabbard at her hip and started the procedure of removing the limp body from his chains and spikes that fastened him to the moss covered walls of the cell. She had replaced her earlier ponytail with a long, simple braid but it had loosened over the course of the interrogation, leaving soft petal hued tendrils sweeping across her cheeks and forehead. Danzō watched her for one more moment, then left without saying a word. He knew that the punishment he had dealt on her three weeks ago had been severe. She had almost not recovered from the lashes and the dishonouring of her body, but she had and now she was almost as emotionless as a Root member. It was definite now; she would never fail him again.

She regained her training schedule and started wearing those ugly black bracelets again, at her ankles and wrists. Another addition to her attire was a black necklace with a magatama jewel that rested at the hole of her throat, of which he knew was specially designed to weigh as much as she could bear, and when she became stronger, the heavier the magatama necklace would be. When he had asked her about it, she had said it was a gift. She also started wearing a white intricate comb in her hair at the side, an exquisite comb that seemed to work just as well as decoration. She had told him it was a gift from a friend. She also wore a ring on her thumb, which he didn't recognise. It was sleek, golden and it had the kanji sign for "sphere" on its purple jewel. The ring had been a gift from death, she had told him. He didn't think of the matter any further.

She continued to be sent on missions from Danzō, but these missions were dirtier and more varying than they had been before. Seduction missions. Torture missions. Infiltration missions. But she had to work her way up to where she had once been, at his side. She had to prove her worth once again and this time, it wasn't enough just swallowing the green and the red pill.

* * *

_The Female Weapon with Chinese-Style Buns Tenten_

When they sparred a cloudy day, that pink haired woman broke Tenten's leg in their taijutsu match. It hadn't been accidental; Tenten had seen her green eyes pale and bloodlust had hung heavily in the air they breathed. If Lee hadn't interrupted and earned a hard smack across his head, crashing into a tree, Tenten was not sure Sakura would have stopped after seeing Tenten's blood on the grass.

She had changed again. It was just so visible on Haruno Sakura. Her face had thinned, leaving her cheekbones rather chiseled and her eyes hollow. The green was dark and mossy, tired yet oddly sharp. Her mouth was always in a stern line. It seemed like she was constantly clenching her teeth. Her hair was now in a strict braid at the nape of her neck, keeping her hair strands in place and out of her face, straining the roots as hard as it was drawn back. The laughter was gone from her eyes, the always playful smirk absent from her lips. She was older, in heart and soul. Her posture was strong and yet it was like she was made of glass, easily broken and if touched one would bleed on the shrapnel of broken glass.

It was known. Sakura had become more violent. She craved blood and smashed knuckles. She wanted bruises and marks of battle. She needed the aggression, the anger, the intensity, the adrenaline. Maybe to feel like she wasn't made of glass. To feel like she was made out of diamonds. Maybe it was to feel superior to whomever she smashed to pieces. To prove herself. And it was all so painfully wrong. Having seen her innocent smile once, the sun reflecting in her glittering apple green eyes and that playfulness of youth having been shaved off and what was left was not pleasing to the eye at all, so confusing and misleading. Rather, she was beautiful in all of her coldness and stern maturity, yet it was tainted with her bloodied gaze.

Tenten grit her teeth in the hospital bed. She knew Sakura had gone to a lot of missions and the most recent one had left her with a snake bit on her whole torso and she had failed the retrieving mission on the Uchiha at the same time - so she understood the mental toll the girl must have taken. Tenten tried to forgive her, yet she was in a hospital bed because of her and would stay there for two weeks. Her leg had been shattered to pieces and she couldn't find it in herself to smile at the pink haired girl anymore.

* * *

_The Cloud Watching Boy Nara Shikamaru_

"You need to get dragged back down from that high peak you're standing on." Shikamaru said, for once he was serious. He watched her silently as she sat in a meditative position on his couch. She had just strutted inside without warning and taken over his couch. He had offered tea, but she had denied it. Maybe it had become a habit of hers, simply strolling inside his bedroom.

"I've been pulled back countless times. I have tired of it." She said and closed her eyes.

"That's not what I mean. Sakura, I think you've given in." Shikamaru pointed out as he sat on a chair in front of her, drinking his green tea.

"Given in? What are you saying?" She opened her eyes, and they were so hollow, so empty, his heart clenched.

"To hatred. I think that Danzō's punishment triggered it, you having become more violent. It's like you... enjoy it. Maybe you need some time off, release the pressure-"

"I'm perfectly fine." She snapped and swung her legs over the couch's edge. "And I most certainly don't need some time off. This conversation is over."

"It's not. We need to solve this." Shikamaru persisted and she snorted at that.

"There is no 'we' in this. I can take care of myself." Her cold voice sliced through the air in Shikamaru's bedroom. He shrugged.

"I'm most positive you can. It's just that I think you might have broken a bit too much under Danzō and Izanami, and then there was the retrieving mission and the Akatsuki member you killed which has left your bounty to rise in the Bingo Books a whole fucking lot. You need to-"

"Oh, please. Shika, stop it. You think too much. You always think too much." She said and her eyes gleamed, rather cunningly. "You need to start feeling. What does your heart say?" She questioned the male Nara and took a step closer to him when she rose from the couch. He didn't flinch when she lightly touched his chest, standing over him. He involuntarily shivered as he put down his tea cup and was greeted with a smirk on her soft lips.

"What is in your heart?"

Shikamaru swallowed harshly. Her touch sent waves through his body, rippling his muscles and gathering warmth in unexpected places. A thick tension in the air made itself known as Shikamaru felt it press down on his mind, his body reacting accordingly as they were so close. Their gazes met and electricity went through his flesh. And then he decided to be reckless, even if there were conflicting interests in his mind but he ignored them.

"Are you even aware...", he drawled and pulled her closer to him, his hand at her waist, their breaths mingling together, "of just how troublesome you are?"

The close proximity to her body as he looked up at her, the warmth radiating underneath her unnecessary clothes, all made him spiral away into dirty dreams forgotten involving her and him.

"If I must say," she almost whispered, her voice teasing, "your life would be boring without me."

At that she smirked, and she was so close he could see little flecks of gold in her apple green iris, framing her small pupil. Her mouth, those soft and slightly moist lips, were painfully close to his and she didn't shy away. Rather, it seemed their closeness was amusing to her. He wanted to tell her not to play games with him, but he couldn't muster the words. And deep in his heart, he _wanted her_ and it didn't matter to him that she was only having fun. And that smirk she wore, so knowing, but how could she know? He pulled her closer to him, she settled on his lap and she bit her lip, that damn woman bit her lip, and that was the end of him. His chest burned and he was lost in her green eyes.

In one movement, he forced himself up from the chair, had her pinned to the wall with his hand gripping both of hers, his shadows pressing against her, holding her hands above her head. His harsh breath against her soft skin made her own breath hitch. Then it was over for him. His lips grazed hers, not questioning, they demanded. And she succumbed to him and he fell even further. They kissed and it was rough, animalistic in a sense, the sexual tension reaching its peak as he held her neck. She bit his lower lip and he growled. Their mouths played and danced and then their tongues met in a sensual greeting. He pressed his body to hers and she moaned, feeling his bulge against her.

And he fell.

"Shika. This- we shouldn't." She breathed against him as she gulped for air, she said this and yet her fingers were tangled in his thick brown hair which had loosened from the pony tail. Her voice was a mixture of want and calculated knowing of disapproval, like she was battling within herself.

"I know." He said harshly, and pressed his lips against her again and she responded to his wished. Possessive thoughts started to seep into his mind. She was his. He wanted her to think of him and only him. Her mind was going to be filled up the brink with him and his name. She was going to call out for him. She was going to claw his back.

"I can't- _Shikamaru_. Listen to me." She broke their kiss and the Nara blinked. "I have developed three Seduction jutsus and they come to me involuntarily whenever I am in bed with someone. The techniques are hard to handle, especially my genjutsu Blooming Immolation, and the Dance of the Fireflies, and they will make you delirious-"

"Shh. Sakura." He said in a deep voice, pained with lust. "I am actually rather interested in those techniques." He whispered in her ear and she almost shivered, almost.

"Are you sure you can handle my Thousand Fallings?" She smirked then, giving in to whatever battle she had had in her mind, her eyes still empty.

"Are you sure you can handle my shadows? My penumbra?" He mumbled and let his shadow technique come to good use, as the shadows of his hands slithered and caressed her body through the fabric of her turtleneck top. She gasped and he felt satisfaction overwhelm him.

"I like it when you talk like that." Sakura wheezed and her eyelashes fluttered like feathers, gracing his chiseled jawline with her finger tips.

When she touched him as well, he was blinded and he couldn't see the world behind her. She ignited his bones and sparks glistened around him. Her power over him grew and grew and he wanted nothing more than to please the woman he felt under his skin.

Hours went by and he had never experienced such lust and overwhelming desire, and that was simply put. He didn't even care that he was in her command. He didn't even care that he wanted to please her with everything he was. He existed in an euphoric daze compared to nothing he had ever felt before. Searing pleasure burned through his body and he couldn't help but growl with ecstasy as he lost all sense of his surroundings.

In a blissful and sweaty heap, he collapsed, exhausted, but happiness clouded his mind so nothing else in the world mattered. His broad shoulders relaxed and his hands held the woman with green eyes in his arms. She trailed her fingers slowly over his bare chiseled abdominal muscles and he sighed in contentment, then he closed his eyes.

When he came to, he lay sprawled on his bed with a sheet gently laid over him. He felt every muscle in his body protest achingly, he felt dried sweat covering his body and he knew he had been out of his senses for hours. But he was alright. No, more than alright. His mind was still in an ecstatic state and he was oddly at peace with himself. Then he noticed a woman sitting at a chair across the room, fully dressed in her black turtle neck top and beige skirt, showing off her creamy slender legs. Her pink hair wasn't even ruffled. Her eyes were a darker shade of green.

"What happened?" He asked sleepily, scratching his head as he sat up. He knew that they had not simply made love. What Sakura had done to him was something else entirely.

"You... Couldn't handle the Blooming Immolation technique. When I tried not to use it, I accidentally fell into a Thousand Fallings. With every... thrust, you spilled a secret from the Nara Clan and I didn't even ask you. I'm sorry, Shika. I'm... so sorry."

"Oh. I told you..." He mumbled. "You may be sorry, but I'm not. I trust you, Sakura. I can't imagine you spreading classified intel."

"I-" Sakura started, then bit her lip. Shikamaru felt his chest burn. How could she not know that biting her lip was his trigger?

"Come back to bed." He commanded and yawned, patting his hand besides him on the soft cotton sheet.

"I can't. I would like to, sincerely and truly, but something makes me... I can't sleep together with others." She confessed and looked down as she rose from the chair. She gracefully walked up to him and planted a soft kiss on his mouth. Her farewell.

"See you at the briefing tomorrow." She said and disappeared without a trace, leaving a scent of flowers and citrus on the linen of his bed. He slumped back on the soft cushiony mattress, not being able to close his eyes. Her words had silently promised him to never do it again. He felt his heart clench, ache.

What was she doing to him?

And yet, her hollow eyes had changed. Maybe his touch had made her see? Maybe his kisses had made her come back? Maybe his silent confession of her presence in his heart had made her melt? He could only hope, as he closed his eyes with a frown.

Maybe she had changed again.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hi guys! God I need to pee, so I'll make this quick. Thanks for the response and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. I just knitted a lot of things together and if I missed something, do tell. I wrote a whole lot and defeated the Writer's Block gallantly, with coffee, cigarettes and dull inspiration. So another chapter will be out very, very soon.

Cheers,  
fascalia


	15. Assassins, Not Guardians

**Transition**

Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.

Chapter 15

Assassins, not Guardians

Through the Eyes of a Unknown Librarian, a Young One and a Man of Shadows

* * *

_The Fox Boy Uzumaki Naruto_

The birds chirped and Naruto stretched his back, folding his hands at the back of his blond head. He strolled through the silent streets of Konohagakure, enjoying the soft sun rise and he felt light on his feet. His ramen breakfast rumbled comfortingly in his stomach and he was pleased as the noodle-energy made his body bounce forwards. When he arrived at the training grounds, Naruto found Sakura training by herself in the morning sun light. She had her katana in a right handed grip, swinging it, shifting through the air like leaves in the wind, and yet striking hard like a coiling snake. It was a very enjoyable and yet peculiar sight, since she was practicing the katas Suzaku, Sakura's vermillion bird summoning, had taught her and they were nothing like the Kenjutsu Naruto had seen before. The moves were stricter, more sharp but yet had that soft edge that left room for instant evasion due to the opponent's possible counterattack.

"Sakura-chan! Morning!" He cheered and waved his hand to catch her attention. She stopped abruptly, right in the middle of a half moon strike, and she looked at him with sweat dripping down her forehead. Hair was plastered around her face, strands that had let loose of her braid. Her usual black turtleneck top had been replaced with a white slightly large shirt and short black tights that ended a bit above her knees.

"Naruto." She smiled, almost lovingly, and she retracted her sword and slid it back into the scabbard which was strapped at her hip. "You really have become such an early bird since our Genin days."

"Can't help myself when it's such a sunny day!" Naruto grinned and jumped to her side.

Sakura's eyes were hollow, but they were lighter than before. Before, three days ago at training ground four, when she had broken Tenten's leg Sakura had been nothing like herself. Naruto hadn't really been able to look into Sakura's eyes then as he had been sparring with Lee at the time and had witnessed the two kunoichis' fight. The pinkette had looked at Tenten as if she didn't recognise her when she cleaned her hands with a towel, rubbing the blood away from her ravaged knuckles absentmindedly.

"You know, Naruto, your current mantra of '_Rasengan it to death_' won't do you any good in upcoming fights with the Akatsuki." Sakura commented and Naruto was pulled back from his memories of the day three says prior, and was about to protest when her eyes flashed for one second a shade lighter. "What about a spar? And the rule is that you won't use Rasengan." Sakura said and tilted her head questioningly.

"Oh, yeah. Sure, Sakura-chan. But then that applies to you as well; you won't use Izanami. She's like your version of Rasengan. You '_Izanami people to death'_."

"Deal." Sakura smirked. Naruto bit his lip then and looked away to the orange sun rise.

"And no breaking bones." He added quietly. At that, Sakura looked down at her hands, then clenched them. Her knuckles turned white.

"That won't happen again. Ever." She said with furrowed eyebrows and her eyes met his sincerely. "I'll control myself."

"That's all fine and dandy then." Naruto said and gave her a gentle smile.

"Where'd you get that phrase?" Sakura chuckled as she cracked her back with a little groan, then went to stretch her arms.

"Ino, actually. She's a fun one." Naruto grinned and took off his jacket, the absence of the neon orange and black jacket leaving him in his charcoal coloured t-shirt. He had to buy a new one soon, he noticed with a grimace. The material stretched at his now broader shoulders and his muscled chest and abdomen.

"Oh? So you hang out with the pig now?" Sakura asked, her expression amused when she unstrapped the scabbard at her hip and gently put Izanami down on the grass of the sidelines.

"Nah, not really. We just hung out with everyone from Rookie Nine at Ichiraku's few days ago and we connected over a tale of pranks. I didn't know she pulled one on you in the locker room at the Academy! It was really well thought out-"

"Please don't bring that up." Sakura snarled and the blond stalled.

"Sorry, sorry. I just think it was cute." Naruto grinned as he walked up to her on the training field's center. "Let's begin."

"You just gave me some more motivation to smash your face." Sakura leered and sprinted at him. They engaged in a flurry of hitting and kicking, rolling and evading. It was fun, Naruto realised, as Sakura's taijutsu had improved a whole lot since a few months ago. She could actually keep up with him and she gave him room for improvisation. Her style was however more calculated and textbook correct. Naruto was ever flowing and could change the direction of a hit in one moment of instinctive glee, because he was just that - an unpredictable ninja. Yet it was hard to fight against someone who knew every counterattack to any pattern. But he had improvisation on his side, so he dived under her defence and landed a hit. He had expected her to at least fly back from the force a few meters, but she absorbed the hit somehow and Naruto guessed she used her scary chakra control to redirect the force through her whole body, dispelling it gallantly. As Naruto was too occupied being fascinated by this quirk of Sakura's taijutsu, she landed a kick at his side which made him stumble away.

But Naruto couldn't be fazed by just that; he was after all the future Hokage of Konoha. He spiralled away from her continuing flurry of kicks and he successfully rounded her to appear behind her. When his fist was a millimetre away from her pink head, she simply cocked it one side as if she sensed in what direction his fist was headed and his balled fist whistled past her cheek. He was fast to jump away when she almost elbowed him in the stomach. Naruto almost laughed; this was just too much fun.

An hour later of full on sparring with the kunoichi, they were drained. They had gone all out on each other and Naruto wasn't used to using much of taijutsu, since his signature style was the Rasengan and his kage bunshins which all made up for his lack of taijutsu. Sakura, he knew, had trained with Lee and Gai-sense a lot, so she had a bit of more experience than him. Naruto couldn't take away the smile plastered on his sweaty face as he lay slumped down on the grass, watching the clouds drift in the blue sky. Sakura lay huffing besides him and she was just as exhausted as he was. But he had noticed her contemplative gaze and he knew her mind was at work elsewhere, her eyes distant and unseeing. Sakura's fighting styles and abilities were the culmination of various training methods intermixed to create something unique, and he recognised the glint in her eyes.

"So what's your secret?" Naruto asked besides her as they lay exhausted on the grass at the training field, him finally catching his breath.  
"Huh?" Sakura snapped her head up from her huffing pile of sweat. Her eyes glittered like emerald for a short moment.

"Yeah, I can see it. You're developing a new technique!" Naruto rolled around to his stomach and poked at her shoulder as he grinned.

"Ah... Yes, how did you know?" She smiled and wiped her hand at her forehead.  
"I know you quite well, Sakura-chan." Naruto said. "I can see that stuff."

"Oh, I see. Well, yes I am." She admitted.

"Then what is it? Some kind of badass mountain-wrecking final punch?" Naruto asked excitedly, his fist clenched and stretched into the air, as if reaching for the sky with a punch. Sakura snorted and looked at him, the green fresh grass grazing her chin as her head was turned his way.

"Nothing of the like. It's a seal developed by Tsunade which is reputed to be the pinnacle of chakra control. The theory goes like this; by storing chakra over an extended period of time into a specific point on the body — which is mostly the forehead — the user creates this seal which manifests in the form of a rhombus-like marking. Once the seal is formed, the user's already exquisite and sharp chakra control which is necessary to concentrate and store the chakra over the period of time allows them to perform techniques without any wasted energy or their own chakra. When released, the seal will either spread across the users face, or wrap around their entire body. The stored chakra is released into their body greatly amplifying their medical techniques and physical strength as well. But you see, I have adjusted the seal a bit. Instead of releasing it all at once, and in that releasing every bit of saved chakra at one time, I'm trying to save portions of it in different parts of my body. And instead of opening the tap of chakra fully when releasing, only streams of chakra will be let out. I've made the doors smaller so they won't pool out every drop of spared chakra. I don't know if it will work yet, but I've been saving chakra into different tenketsu points in my body for the last year. We'll just have to see if it works."

"Wow. Sounds even more awesome than a severe ass-kicking." Naruto said and laughed heartily. "You know so much stuff, Sakura-chan."

"Ah, Naruto, I must let you in on my secret. There exists this thing called _libraries_, where you can read these things called _books_, containing _information_..." She said sardonically and Naruto gagged.

"Ugh, books. There is no other thing in the world that puts out my flame like words on paper do. They drain my soul, I swear." The Kyuubi container muttered and Sakura shook her head with a smile ghosting her lips.

"Your taijutsu is really good, Sakura-chan." Naruto commented and huffed as he squinted at his arm that had taken a great toll, large and purple bruises starting to appear on his skin. "These bruises will take a while to heal, even with Kurama's help."

"Well, combining taijutsu with perfect chakra control is what I am capable of and I will someday perfect it. Taijutsu is a lot about feeling and instinct, something I will have to work hard on because I only know what the books told me. That's something you excel in, though. Improvisation." Sakura praised the container and he felt a flush creep onto his cheeks.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan. Your qualities of chakra control and textbook knowledge makes you a worthy sparring partner, so you're just as good." Naruto replied and the pinkette smirked.

"I was inspired by you, Naruto. You've always worked hard, and I thought I could be no less of a shinobi."

* * *

_The Unknown Librarian of the Hokage's Secret Files Senju Kitsune_

"We came unprepared, scrambling inside the hideout without any forehanded prepared instructions on how to take on Orochimaru, Kabuto and Sasuke. What I am in my core is a paper ninja and I have abandoned that aspect of myself recently. So I am here to acquire all knowledge about strategies and reserve plans for every take of possible actions. To see from all angles. I'd like to begin with anatomy of shinobi, then on to tactics and strategy, mostly basic things. When I get the overall picture I intend to dig deeper. I have a memory that recalls easily so it won't take too long." Sakura said over her cup of tea. Kitsune was happy the girl had visited this night, when the moon was full and she had been more lonely than every before. When Kitsune had sneezed from the dust of a few old books she was about to go through and clean, the pinkette had appeared and helped her carry the books to the filing section in the large library. They sat at a table, in the center of the hidden personal library of the Hokage.

"I see." Kitsune replied. "I am a paper ninja as well. I derive from the Senjuu Clan and so I have tidbits of information regarding their techniques, though I am unable to use them."

"Oh. Well, I am not going to be impolite and ask of you to share that information. They are your Clan's secrets after all." Sakura said so quietly, Kitsune had almost not heard it.

"Hn, yes. But... I might make an exception for you, Sakura." The librarian said and felt her cheeks flush lightly and she looked away.

"Really? What is the trade?" The pinkette asked with a raised eyebrow. Kitsune swallowed.

"Simply your time-to-time presence."

"Is that really all you ask of me? Trading your Clan's secrets solely for my presence?" She asked, her voice unbelieving and she sat the ceramic tea cup down on the table. Her sapphire eyes were fully focused on Kitsune and the librarian blushed.

"Yes."

"And you crave nothing more of me?"

"No."

"You are so pure, Kitsune-san." Sakura drawled and closed her book slowly. Kitsune felt as if her heart was beating mercilessly in her throat and she swallowed loudly. The pinkette only looked at Kitsune with those feline like green eyes.

"If that is what you wish, then I agree." Sakura smiled and the tension was gone like the wind through barren trees. Kitsune sighed heavily, not knowing if she should have craved more.

* * *

_The Senbon Guy Shiranui Genma_

"Up for a training session, Saku-chan?" He cheered as he saw her in the bar of Ichiraku's, sitting by herself on a stool as she raised her head up to meet his eyes. Her black usual turtleneck top strained a bit at her now slightly more developed body and his eyes raked through the material unconsciously. The ever present senbon in his mouth slid to the other side of his mouth in a leer.

"Oh? I thought my training was done when I left you in a delirious puddle last time." Sakura smirked and flicked her petal hued hair to one side. Genma's eyes glittered and he laughed, the alcohol in his body making him feel like he was on top of the world.

"That might just be the problem." He said then, with a deeper baritone voice near her ear, known to have felled many females in his days. "Leaving your victims craving more might be a dangerous quirk of your bedside techniques."

"Genma, I do hope our relationship is to remain at a professional level. If you don't have sincere pointers on my techniques then I kindly reject your proposition." Sakura smirked and sipped gallantly from her saké cup.

"Well, yes. One could say I have a few pointers." Genma smiled arrogantly.

"You're drunk, Genma." Sakura laughed. "My techniques are perfected. You and Anko has both seen to it and experienced them."

Suddenly, Genma's expression was serious.

"I was going to talk to you about that. These three techniques you have developed are dangerous. Anko was almost turned into your slave because of it. I was able to dispel her illusions and I had to go to Inoichi to erase most of my memory of the time spent in bed with you. It muddles the mind. Don't ever use these techniques on someone you hold dear. Ever." Genma said and he saw Sakura's eyes widen.

"Oh. I wasn't aware... I'm sorry, Genma. I truly did not know the lasting effect. I thought the illusions were limited in time, but if what you're saying is true, then..." Sakura's eyes were sad and thoughtful as Genma saw her mind at work, seeing her techniques from different angles and trying to see the cause of the lasting effect. The she pushed away from the chair and paid her tab. Genma's eyes followed her silently as she turned to him and her smile was slanted.

"I'd like to be alone in the crowds. Do not follow me. Have a good evening." She told him and disappeared in a whirl of scented winds, citrus and metal blended. Genma sighed, then bit his lip and forced a smile at his ANBU companions at the other side of the bar as he strutted towards them with another four pints of ale in his hands. He would drink and forget. That had been Inoichi's advice, since he could not truly erase nor forge memories.

* * *

_The Prodigy Hyuuga Neji_

They met on the training grounds early on a cloudy day and after a long and hard spar, they sat together to drink water and watched the little Genins run around and try to throw dummy kunais at each other. The sweat on their skin took a while to dry in the humid weather.

"I have developed three resistance techniques that will dispel my Thousand Fallings, Dance of the Fireflies and Blooming Immolation. That way, people won't become addicted to me if I teach them the dispelling jutsu." Sakura said lightly. _Too late_, Neji thought as he bit down on his inner cheek.

"That's nice, Sakura." He drawled and scratched his head, as he moved to sit closer to her. He inspected her face from the side, that complexion which had become healthier since a month ago when she had gotten back from the failed retrieving mission. Her eyes were clear, once again. And he couldn't stop remembering two days ago when she had visited his bed chamber.

He touched her cheek gently and she turned her head to stare back at him, with those cold yet doe-like eyes. Her skin was so soft and he was about to lean in to kiss her, but her hand gently took his hand and pulled it down from her face.

"No. I have given you one night of pleasure of which I won't regret, Neji. It's been lovely and I've had a most... interesting experience with you. Your Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Fingers technique combined with your Byakugan eyes was quite wonderful. But that's it. I've decided that until my goals are completed I will refrain from non-commissoned sexual activities. This also because of you... slipping Hyuuga secrets." She told him and he looked down on his feet, not wanting to acknowledge the lump of ice in his throat. Always the calculative one. Always the one without fire in her emotions towards him.

"Oh. I get that." He said casually, but his sitting stance was rigid. "But is touching you prohibited?" He asked as he looked up and stroked his fingers on her shoulder towards her visible collarbone, his thumb circling. "Is kissing you... Not allowed?" He murmured and leaned in, letting his lips ghost over her throat. The pinkette didn't move away.

"I want you." He whispered almost inaudibly, and he was helpless.

"Neji. Don't." She scolded him meekly and pulled him away. "You deserve better."

"You want it, I can see it." He said and left the sting of her dismissal of him in the back of his mind.

"Yes, but that is only what my body wants. I... If I do this, I want to be here with my heart in it. But as of now, my heart is nowhere to be seen. It's been ripped apart and left cold on the ground somewhere and I need to find it before I can give myself to you."

"You're saying that you can't love me." He realised his spoken words and he had known it from the beginning, yet he had wished. He had wished so much that it wasn't true, that she was capable of loving him. But she couldn't.

"Yes." She said and he felt his mind shattering into pieces.

"I'm... no good for you, Neji. I'm manipulative and can't even control my own Seduction techniques. You deserve so much more." Her voice was soft and he could hear how she restricted herself from touching him.

"But all I want is you." The words came out alien on his tongue, since they were sugar coated with his own feelings. Yet he couldn't help himself, the words simply spilled from his mouth naturally, even though they filled him with distaste caused by his clichéd wording.  
"Oh, god." Sakura bit down on her lip hard, to keep from laughing Neji knew. He flinched at his own cheesy comment, but it was nonetheless true.

"You don't know that, Neji. How many girls have you even looked at?" Sakura tried and carefully let her hand gather her bubblegum coloured hair up into a ponytail at the back of her head.

"I see everyone, but I only look at you." Neji said and sighed. "It's annoying, though. And not very constructive."

"That's why you have to let go."

* * *

_The Flower Girl Yamanaka Ino_

In the morning light of sunrise, the pink haired girl crouched besides her companion on the roof top, her eyes scavenging the crowds on the street, the civilians oblivious to the presence of the dangerous shinobi right above them.

"And when I have scouted the perimeter-" The pink haired kunoichi started, her eyes sharp, but the Yamanaka interrupted her.

"Wait, Sakura. It sounds like you've just prepared for a mission?"

"Yes?" She looked confused. "It's more efficient seeing it that way. The perimeter where the crowds are, the most strategic point to get through, the timing of the day - these are all important factors. It's also important to not lose sight of the goal. My final conclusion is Okita-san's stand at the crossing between Gotou street and Shinken street. She has the best apples, they're fresh and they're price worthy."

"You just made a mission out of buying apples." Ino stared at her. "I think you need a break. Like, really need it."

"Nonsense. Now, apples!" Sakura said and spiralled through the air, landing gracefully on a blank spot between the moving bodies of the crowd in the market. Ino sighed and went after her pink haired friend as she saw the outrageous colour move through the street, gallantly slicing through the crowds on the tip of her toes.

* * *

_The Younger One Hyuuga Hanabi_

She had seen it, on the hidden training grounds when she had strolled by to go home form training with a Hyuuga advisor. Somehow, that devil in pink haired disguise had used Gentle Fist, which shouldn't be possible for someone not having the blood of a Hyuuga. If Hanabi's assessment was correct, then that meant Sakura knew every tenketsu point in the body without seeing them. That meant she must have studied them until she couldn't think of anything else. There were thousands of tenketsu points in the shinobi body and it was said to be impossible to learn every single one of them. Besides that, she had used her palm against her clone and it had exploded in grit and bones. That meant she had fused her chakra in her tenketsu points in her palm and let the destructive force of chakra slide inside her clone and explode from the inside within the veins and the correct tenketsu points. In conclusion, that devil must know the secret of the Hyuuga Clan's kekkei genkai - the knowledge on how it worked to its last minimal detail. Hanabi grit her teeth. She would tell father.

That pinkette would be sentenced to death for stealing Hyuuga Clan secrets.

Yet, Hanabi frowned and looked at her feet, balling her fists. She had seen how Neji-niisan had looked at the girl. He had fond feelings for her and Hanabi wrinkled her nose with disgust. And it was most probably his fault. Father would know. And Neji-niisan would probably be punished severely, exiled or maybe even get executed for having told the girl of the Hyuuga techniques.

"The flower of youth shalt not wither wrinkling its features! It is not the time to wilt in spring, it is the time to grow!" The green beast appeared in a whirl of leaves and threw off a Nice Guy pose and Hanabi face palmed. Just wonderful.

"I'm not wilting. I'm thinking, Gai-san." She snapped and threw another kunai at the target tree.

"That seems to take a strain on you, flower bud. Don't let your adolescence go to waste consumed by mere thoughts!" The green beast cheered and bounced around. Hanabi had always been honest and straightforward, and it had let to Father reprimanding her many a times. But it never hindered her.

"If one doesn't think, one doesn't exist. Or is an idiot. You're weird, Gai-san." She drawled and pushed her hair to one side.

"Only one of my many assets, that is!" Gai gave her a thumbs up and Hanabi almost gagged. Might Guy was everything Father was not. His expression always open, there to be read and scrutinised. He was never ashamed of his appearance and his ridiculous antics. Father was quiet and powerful, never letting a shred of emotion peel off his face. Hanabi scowled and went to pick up the kunais she had thrown on the tree.

"What is it that bothers you, flower bud?" Gai asked as he went to help her pick out the kunais. Hanabi didn't answer as she had a bit of a difficult time getting out one of the kunais she had thrown in anger, it being embedded deep into the bark. Gai simply pulled them out form the other trees, one after another. With gritted teeth she forced a bit of chakra into her hands to pull the damn thing out and she was thrown to the ground as the tree exploded.

"Gentle, gentle." Gai said and picked up the kunai that had been forced away from the exploded part of the tree.

"I'm just- I don't know how to handle a certain situation." Hanabi confessed as she got up from the ground, angrily wiping away the tree splinters on her Hyuuga training outfit.

"The flower of youth might deem to be found difficult at times, knowing it knows nothing." Gai said and then smiled. Hanabi was almost blinded by the whiteness of his teeth.

"The most important things is to always listen to your heart." He exclaimed and gave her the kunais he had gathered. Then he stroke a Nice Guy pose and disappeared without a word, probably off to pester another Genin with his embarrassing subjective life guidance.

_Listen to what your heart says_. Hanabi snorted.

Yet it got to her. Her heart was untouched by Father, it always had been. It was her mind that was calculative, repressed, thinking, formed by Father until perfection - the true workings of a worthy shinobi of a revered, old Clan. But her heart told her to handle the situation differently. Her heart told her not to be the cause of unnecessary bloodshed. That she didn't know the whole story; why the Haruno had gotten the information - what Neji saw in the pink haired woman, since Hanabi knew he was a sensible man. Neji, who had taken of his own time to train with Hanabi and give her well founded tips of improvement. Father had never done that, he had told her to see her own faults and exploit them, since if it was one thing a Hyuuga could do it was to _see_.

Neji had also become more polite and less passive aggressive towards the Elders, gaining their confidence and trust. Hanabi knew he rivalled her position as the future Head of the Hyuuga Clan. Since birth, she had been trained to lead, it having been ingrained into her whole being. But she could more easily see Neji as the Clan Head rather than herself. Hinata was no longer an option, her having been deemed too weak by Father at an earlier stage.

If Neji was to be executed together with the Haruno, Hanabi was certain she would become the Clan Head in the future. The simple option of not shouldering that position with responsibility and the thought of her becoming like Father was rather discomforting, Hanabi realised. She... didn't want to become an exact replica of Father. She wanted to be strong, like Father, but with her heart on her sleeve, like Gai. She bristled at her thought process. She actually wanted to be like that strange green beast?

Hanabi was confused. But she listened. She listened to her heart. But before she decided on not to act out on her knowledge of the Haruno knowing Hyuuga Clan secrets and Neji being the one who told her, she would learn the truth. She would confront the pink haired devil. And from what she learned then, she would act on it.

She found the pink haired woman coming out of the Hokage Tower with a grim expression on her facial features, her hands in her pockets and her head bowed down. It was like she was contemplating something. Hanabi knew she had been in a lot of meetings, Neji-niisan had said it himself. For what reason, none knew.

Hanabi strolled up to her and smiled innocently at the pinkette, her eyes wide and expressive. The Haruno only looked questioningly at the shorter girl as she stood in her way.

"Good day. My name is Hyuuga Hanabi." She presented herself politely with a fake smile tugging at her lips. "I've heard a lot about you from Neji-niisan. Can I watch you train just one time?"  
"Oh?" The Haruno said and her eyes widened. "Of course you may. I'm headed to the training grounds right now, Hanabi-chan. Want to follow?" She smiled gently.

"Yes!" Hanabi said happily and sauntered off after the pink haired kunoichi.

At the training grounds, Hanabi watched the Haruno stretch for a bit, jog around the area in very slow pace and Hanabi came to wonder if it had all been a scam. She seemed weak. When the Haruno got back, sweat was visible on her forehead. The Hyuuga girl knitted her eyebrows in disgust. That meek warm-up exercise had left her sweaty?

The pink haired devil then positioned herself in the center of the training ground forty-five and started with a few taijutsu katas. Hanabi noticed a few black bracelets strapped on her wrists and ankles, two at each ankle and wrist. They were really ugly. Hanabi tired of watching the slow strikes and went to the training ground besides the Haruno and started with a easy version of the Gentle Fist, then lapsed into her own version of it. It took a while before Hanabi noticed the Haruno was watching her.

"You force the heel of your feet too hard into the ground when you go for the crown chakra in your opponent. It leaves you unbalanced for one second, and sometimes one second is all it takes to to lose your life. If you focus more on the elastic movement of retracting your palm fist, then you will find balance easier." The pink haired devil dared to comment, unabashedly. Hanabi snorted.

"I have a few pointers to you as well, Haruno-san." Hanabi declared confidently. "You're pretty much just a second-hand Tsunade. You were the one that destroyed our training fields with one punch, right? That was so Tsunade. Your techniques are inferior and you hide behind a sharp blade because you can't do anything else. You haven't even fully evolved on your Kenjutsu, just leaving it at the ground like that. I saw when you used it once and it's just a mess of instinctive katas."

"Sharp, aren't you." Sakura smiled approvingly. Hanabi wrinkled her nose; why was she satisfied with Hanabi's degrading assessment of the pinkette's abilities? Then they started talking for a while about different techniques and tips of improvement, the Hyuuga girl realising the tips were well-founded. Hanabi then found herself finally asking the question. When she got the answer from the Haruno who didn't even blink as she told the Hyuuga heiress, Hanabi blushed so hard she would have embarrassed even Hinata-neesan.

* * *

_The Prodigy Hyuuga Neji_

"Neji-niisan?" Hanabi asked the taller man as he read a book, her opalescent eyes peering innocently over the book's edge at him. He didn't look up from his book as he answered her.

"Yes, Hanabi?"

"So Sakura fucked your lights out so much you spilled our Clan's secrets?" The little girl asked with an angelic smile and ugly words on her tongue. Neji's mouth was agape within seconds, his eyes wide and his cheeks becoming flushed.

_Oh._

_Jesus fucking christ. Bloody fucking hell. Fucking fuck. Shit. Fuck on a cracker. Just _shit_._

"Who told you? Sakura did?" Neji almost stuttered as he gripped his book hard. Hanabi sighed as she twirled a brown lock her hair around her finger.  
"Yes, because I asked her. She was practicing at the hidden training grounds and I saw her perform a style similar to Gentle Fist, but adapted to her own style since she doesn't have our kekkei genkai. I figured it was you who told her, but I didn't know why or how. So I asked her how she knew it."

Hanabi's eyes had turned colder, chilly and freezing. Neji frowned as he put the book down on the table and he said nothing.

"I hope you know what you're doing. I was about to rat you out to Father, but I thought better of it. If I had, Sakura would be dead and you'd probably be exiled or something. So you owe me one." She said with a cheer.

"What do you want, Hanabi?" Neji asked, knowing this couldn't be good.

"Become my teacher and train me." She leered and cocked her head to one side. She had him wrapped around her little finger and she knew it very well.

That was when Neji realised Hyuuga Hanabi in truth was devil-spawn.

* * *

_The Cloud Watching Boy Nara Shikamaru_

"Sakura's gone in meetings _again_?" Ino wailed as she shook her pint of ale in front of Shikamaru's face. He ducked and avoided the beverage within millimetres.

"Yeah."  
"Fuck, it's been far too long since I saw her stupid face for real. She's just always gone on stupid little missions, killing off a stupid little Akatsuki member, letting stupid Sasuke slip her fingers and god knows what! The only time I got to see her was when we were buying _apples_!" The blond girl accused the absent pinkette drunkenly, waggling her fingers at thin air and Kiba patted her back as he chewed on a chicken wing. Choji munched on his snacks he had brought with him into the bar and Hinata and Naruto sat in a corner, talking quietly. The Rookie Nine were all gathered, with the exception of Tenten and Lee who were on a mission with Gai in Tea Country. And Sakura as well. Not often did this many of the rookies gather almost all the same time at once.

Shikamaru drank his beer greedily, not caring to comment on Ino's angry accusations. The night turned into a blur of beer and saké and old memories. Shikamaru didn't even remember that he had taken off his shoes when he went to bed.

The next morning, when Shikamaru groaned and sat up from the bed and dressed slowly, he found that Neji already sat in the large main hall of the Nara Clan, drinking coffee and watching the rising sun from the veranda. Shikamaru joined him and sat gracefully on the wooden floor besides him. For a while, they sat in silence. Then Shikamaru's mind started to drift off, into the memory of a night he would remember for the rest of his life. When she moaned his name. Clawed his back. And her eyes were a darker shade of green. A fire ball burned inside his stomach, it twisted and screeched.

"Loving her is like chewing on pearls." Shikamaru muttered. He felt a sudden hard gaze on him and he looked up only to meet the pained opalescent orbs of the Hyuuga prodigy.

"So you have fallen in her trap as well." Neji mused and Shikamaru felt his ears flush warm.

"It's a pain in the ass." Shikamaru drawled and stretched. So the Hyuuga felt the same way. Shikamaru was actually not surprised. He wouldn't even be surprised if he found out that Sakura and Neji had explored each other more intimately, since Sakura couldn't help herself - this was a cause by her violent side and Shikamaru had triggered it. He had told her to release pressure and she had. When she did, the violence ebbed from her sharp eyes and she became softer and the tension in her shoulders disappeared. When she had noticed herself that she had almost become addicted to fucking, she had stopped abruptly, never touching neither man again. She had sealed herself and gave no fruition to her sexual inhibitions anymore.

"Tell me about it." Neji agreed. It was certainly strange, how the two of them agreed on the difficult hardship in loving Haruno Sakura. But there was no helping it.

"Maybe we'll grow out of it, some day." Shikamaru suggested and Neji shrugged.

"I doubt it." The Hyuuga breathed heavily and moved a piece on the shogi board he had produced earlier. Shikamaru saw his own pieces already in position and he moved one.

"Yeah. I know, just tried to be optimistic. She's got us caught alright." Shikamaru sighed.

"She's just that evil." Neji smiled and there was too much hollowness in his voice.

"That won't stop me from trying, though. I will make her see me." The Nara said and gave a slanted smirk to the Hyuuga. He was greeted with a similar one.  
"Expect a bit of a fight from me too, then." Neji quirked the side of his lips into a gentle yet twisted smile and moved another piece on the board.

"Boys, boys. She's not a piece of fucking candy. Give it up, will you?" Ino groused and stretched on the couch behind them, cracking a few joints in the process. She had apparently crashed at his place, Shikamaru mused, not really remembering what had happened last night. Ino wailed and slumped over the couch's edge and yawned as she hung her head over the edge. Then she knitted her eye brows and groaned, pressing her hand against her forehead. "God, I can't believe you two. I'm hungover as shit and you two drank like two barrels of ale yesterday - and you look like you just got blessed by the heavens with all that sparkling freshness and prettiness. What's _wrong_ with you?"

* * *

_The Snotty Brat Sarutobi Konohamaru_

When he sneaked away from the Hokage's Office, on his way through the hidden small passage within the walls, he heard something. Someone was shouting inside a room just next to him. His interest peaked and he shuffled along the small passageway and got closer to the room's wall. There was one source of light shedding the passageway's muddy darkness and Konohamaru saw a small hole in the wall. He slid up to it and stretched his head up a bit and covered his eye with the hole. What he could see was limited since the hole was small, but what he saw was the blond and busty Hokage wave with her hands in an angry manner, shouting and yelling at someone.

And then suddenly, the Godaime slapped someone with a loud flesh ripping sound.

Konohamaru widened his eyes. He had never seen the Godaime display a serious violent side to her, she had only been lightly and comically smacking people that annoyed her around, but that slap had been _real_. With emotion. With pain. With ill-intent. Then when the Godaime turned around and stomped away from the room, Konohamaru could see the person she had slapped. Pink hair strands flowed down her shoulders and Konohamaru suddenly stared into the sapphire eyes of the girl who had helped him in the alley with the affinity papers a long time ago. She moved fast. One second she stood with a stinging cheek, the other she poured a milky yet clear liquid into the Godaime's saké from a small container she had produced from her chest binding. His heart leapt out of his chest and he saw her eyes and they were so pale, so pale, so pale and he was scared, so he bristled and then shuffled away fast, away from the strange scenario. And her hard, pale green eyes that locked on him.

* * *

_The Man with a Borrowed Eye Hatake Kakashi_

There was a huge commotion inside the Hokage Tower, with ANBU everywhere and hurrying shinobi that swept past him in the corridor. Kakashi wrinkled his eyebrows as he held his Icha Icha comfortably in his hands, walking towards the Hokage's office to receive information on the A-ranked mission for the morrow. He just hoped Tsunade hadn't found the bottle Shizune had stashed away in the locker behind the painting, since the Copy Nin knew that his gift to the Hokage was one of the strongest in the Five Nations. He slumped his shoulders.

"What's up?" Kakashi asked as he read the last few words in his Icha Icha. The ANBU that he had caught with his question froze and his eyes were blank and shiny, as if he refused to let tears fall. Kakashi saw this and put his beloved book back into his pocket as he raised an eyebrow. The ANBU, donning a bloodied owl mask, cleared his throat and his voice was thick with emotions as he spoke.

"Oh, you haven't been told?" The owl mask was hurriedly forced to the side of his messy brown hair, his eyes wide eyed and hollow. His voice was strange.

"The Hokage was assassinated tonight." He told Kakashi and he looked down on his feet. "Tsunade was stated dead a few hours ago by the paramedics. Her heart failed her due to a sword injury to her chest's vital organs and poison in her veins."

"Wh-what?" Kakashi sputtered. A passing receptionist heard this, jerked his head back and he dropped the stack of papers in his hands, the thin papers of reports and files gently falling to the ground. He stood still, eyes wide and unbelieving.

"Tsunade... is dead?" The Copy Nin asked and he couldn't believe it was true. The ANBU bit his lip hard and he nodded, approving this fact to be true. Another shinobi from T&amp;I joined them, muttering curses as she pressed back tears.

"I can't believe it. It's not true." The T&amp;I interrogator whispered and bit her lip.

"She's _gone_? Just like that?" The receptionist asked, bewildered and shocked. He didn't pick up the papers.

"Yes, she is... gone." The ANBU with the mask of an owl said so quietly Kakashi had almost not heard it.

Silence pressed. The receptionist started to cry, sobbing and whimpering. The kunoichi from T&amp;I clenched her fists in unconcealed rage. Kakashi still couldn't quite believe it. It just couldn't be. Tsunade was strong, he knew it. She wouldn't have fallen. She couldn't have.

"Who killed her- who _fucking_ was it?" The T&amp;I kunoichi seethed and shook almost.

"Was it Orochimaru? It must have been. That fucking snake bastard!" The receptionist yelled with tears in his eyes, unashamed and with flushed cheeks.

"Or was it the Akatsuki?" Kakashi added, his eyeopening thinning and a vein thumped on his straining neck.

The ANBU who had given the news of Tsunade's death looked down on the ground, frowning with so much turbulent emotions visible in his eyes.

"No. From what I have heard, the killer, it's been confirmed... I can't-... from Konoha..." He breathed, cleared his throat and then looked every person in the corridor of the Hokage Tower in the eyes.

"Haruno Sakura killed Tsunade-sama. And she's gone from the village."

Kakashi felt his heart freeze into oblivion.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hmm.

Everything I have written in chapter 14 will have a purpose later on. I know last chapter was harsh and dirty. I know I suck at writing sex scenes and I didn't want to be too explicit so I left a lot unsaid. Some of you might not agree with a Sakura that has sexual desires, but mine has. She became addicted to the release and her mind was clouded due to Danzō's punishment. It won't have a recurring role, though.

**To Luci:**  
I would also like to know specifically what you did not like in last chapter. You don't exactly give me any clues when you say it was simply bad. How am I to proceed if I don't know what I did wrong according to you? Sorry if I sound grumpy, but I sat seven hours straight writing chapter 14 and 15. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth receiving de-constructive criticism when I have put so much time in writing these. Reviews are meant to criticise of course, **but bloody hell please say WHAT was wrong.** Haha, I need coffee, god.

Love you guys still, but some reviews kicks puppies, even though it's not intentional.

I hope this chapter was better. A cliffhanger, yeey. God, now I'm not even sure I should post this. Maybe it's just as bad as last chapter - but what do I know? I can't even see the bad things.

Have a lovely day! (grit through teeth but I still need to be optimistic lolz)  
fascalia


	16. Dark Sun

**Transition**

Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.

Chapter 16

**Dark Sun**

Through the Eyes of an Oblivious Hunter nin, a Young One, and an Avenger

* * *

_The Fox Boy, Uzumaki Naruto_

Sweat dripped into his cerulean eyes, vision blurred, but he didn't care as he thrashed through the foliage of the Forest of Death. His senses were tingling, and all he felt was the flicker of her chakra in the forest, and she was moving away. He was exploding. He had to reach her in time. He had to. Exploding. It couldn't be true, and that was it. Not unless she told him otherwise.

When he had entered the Hokage Tower wanting to find out what the commotion was all about, Kakashi had been there. Kakashi-sensei, who always had that sleazy eyed look, relaxed stance, and an orange book in his hands, had stood paralysed in the corridor. When the owl-masked ANBU shakily told Naruto what had happened, he crashed out the door. The only thought in his mind was to find her, find her and she'll smile and say he was stupid for ever even thinking she'd do something like that.

Naruto bit his lower lip so hard it bled, but he didn't taste the metallic flavour; he tasted nothing, saw nothing, heard nothing. Not Sakura. Not Tsunade. It didn't make sense. Pain seared through his chest and he tensed his arm to prevent himself from clutching the neon orange fabric over it. He stumbled on a branch. His vision was watery with salty sweat, because he wasn't crying, dammit he wasn't, but he got up just as fast and was up in the trees again. Furiously stepping down on a branch so it broke in splinters and dust, he flew through the air, and at that time, he saw it. On the top of a large oak tree a little further away, on the border of the section of forest, in the direction of the mountains, he saw her. Together with the blue-haired dragon man. Her katana was strapped on her back, and when she turned to him, her eyes were a blank white - empty and dangerous. There was blood on her cheek.

The blue-haired dragon man then shed his skin, and muscles wrapped around him, and he became larger; claws sprouted from his fingers, bones crunched and regrew, and then glittering blue scales smouldered in the moonlight from his growing form as he turned into a dragon, a beautiful yet dangerous winged creature. Sakura jumped up onto Seiryu's back, settling herself between the vein covered, silvery and crystal-clear wings as she spread her legs to the sides, her backpack fastened over her bare, slightly sweaty shoulders. Naruto was still too far away, but he ran as fast as he could, and he roared as he was stumbling, tumbling, running.

"Tell me it isn't true!" Naruto screamed, and the sound almost seemed to echo in the dark forest. His lungs hurt, pain so obvious in his voice as he jumped and stumbled - but she was too far away; the distance wouldn't close no matter how much he ran. Silence stretched between them for a few seconds, and Sakura only looked at him with unreadable jade eyes. There was that blood splatter on her face, and it hadn't dried yet, dribbling down on her throat. It was glued there forever and it would never go away. No matter how much she tried.

Tsunade's blood.

"I'm sorry, Naruto." She whispered, her words of fragile glass carried to him by the soft wind, and he heard no remorse in her voice. She was lying, Sakura was lying to him, and as if on cue, the dragon flapped its mammoth wings and shot off up into the air. The pink smudge of colour flew away into the night.

He saw the iridescent dragon disappear in the clouds, and then it was gone, blanketed by the night sky, hiding it from his watery eyes. He fell to his knees when he reached the branch, stumbled as he fell down on the same tree bark she had just stood on. He grabbed chunks of his blond hair and his eyes never left the empty sky. Kurama rattled within his cage, yellow eyes glistening, sharp teeth slick.

Naruto screamed.

* * *

_The Flower Girl, Yamanaka Ino_

"Ino, dear? Please eat something." Ino's mother said through the keyhole to her room, pleading once again, chiding, but no answer came. No answer had come the past three days. Ino heard her mother scuffle outside, a sniffle, and then the clanking of a plate being settled down outside her door. The thumping steps told Ino her mother had left, probably to go back to work. She had come back during lunch hour to give her food. The blond girl rocked on her bed silently; she didn't cry anymore. She had no tears left.

"You weren't leaking back then, were you?" Ino mumbled into her hands, her eyes seeing nothing past her slender, creamy hands, and she gazed at her nails, which were painted delicately with pink nail polish. Light, gentle pink. Cherry blossom pink.

A sudden wave of revulsion overcame her, and she almost retched. She staggered to her bathroom and quickly, rushing, clumsily pulled out the nail varnish remover, almost spilling the bottle's contents in her hurry. Her hands trembled as she frenetically scrubbed the paper soaked with clear liquid over her fingernails, and even though she pressed too hard, she didn't care. The pink colour started to dissipate, but there were little flecks left and then Ino realised she still had tears left. Droplets ran from her eyes down the bridge of her nose as she bared her teeth in a grimace, the tears dripping down onto her red, flushed hands and flecked fingernails.

"Damn it. Damn it," she gritted through her teeth. She furiously rubbed the polish remover on her fingernails, and then, finally, she successfully removed the last pink fleck on her index finger. "Fuck," Ino spat out and fell into an exhausted heap on the bathroom floor, and she started to sob loudly. "Fuck." She didn't care if her neighbours heard. She didn't care if Konoha heard. She didn't care if the universe heard her unabashed wailing, mourning.

"She's gone. She's gone. She's fucking so far gone." Ino sobbed to herself, found that she was grinning through blurring tears and then she laughed. Laughing increased in pitch and volume - it turned into fits of hysterical screaming, hollow crying. It was a despair-filled, empty sort of sobbing. Ino smiled through it all.

It was just too funny, wasn't it? Little, sweet Sakura-chan.

* * *

_The Younger One, Hyuuga Hanabi_

She threw her kunai so hard it dug deep, deep into the trunk of a tree that stood tall in the backyard of the Hyuuga Mansion. Her breath was ragged. She had been training since the sun bothered to peek over the horizon, hours ago. Her brows knitted in an irritated scowl and she produced another kunai, to throw just as hard beside the others in the tree. Pearls of sweat dropped from her forehead.

Hanabi's mission in life would be to kill Haruno Sakura, she decided at the thirteenth thunk. That damned vixen, murderer, what she had done to Tsunade, to Neji-niisan who had locked himself up in his room... She would never forgive her, never forgive herself. She would never listen to her heart again.

The last kunai hit the tree so hard it went through the bark, only to embed itself into a second tree.

* * *

_The Council_

"Who are the possible candidates for the position of Hokage?" Elder Yawata asked as he came hurriedly inside the Council Room, carrying a pile of papers in his wrinkled hands.

"You are late, Yawata. None the matter. As far as we have come in our discussions, the possible candidates are Shimura Danzō and Hatake Kakashi. Maybe even the Uzumaki brat. In a crisis like this, we need to act fast. We can't let the other villagers know of our political vacuum," the Council member Uemi said sternly.

"That is true. Let us discuss, then vote within the day." Elder Kagome said as she wrinkled her brows. "The faster the better."

"Yes." Elder Uemi agreed, and she settled the papers Yawata had brought with him on the table. None commented on the busty blond's absence from the room. It was like a vital part of the atmosphere was missing. There was no light scent of moss, antiseptic and saké. There were no furrowed blond eyebrows. There was no boisterous laughter. There was no pure and righteous heart in the room anymore.

"These are the complete files of Shimura and Hatake. Let us go through them."

* * *

_The Man of Shadows, Shimura Danzō_

The day had come, the day his lifelong dream would come true.

Slowly, he took a hold of the white and red hat. So much power lay in a few simple pieces of cloth, he mused as he put it on his head. It was a little too small for his bandaged skull, but he pulled it further down and was content when it settled, although a bit too firmly. And then he felt that faint tug of his lips, a tug he hadn't felt in years.

Danzō smiled. It was twisted and slanted, but all the same, it was a smile, and he didn't even care to stave it off, and he strolled out onto the balcony where he was met by hundreds of eyes, the eyes of Konohagakure's population. Every child and adult, every civilian, every shinobi, greeted him in respect. He was their commander, their leader, and he would lead them to the superiority they deserved and to the path of glory. Now that the plan he had laboured on for years had come to fruition. Konohagakure would stand above all, and he would be the one to lead the way - Konoha would rule the Five Elemental Nations. Peace would be the ultimate conclusion when he ruled over all the villages. The large web Root had spun delicately around the Hidden Villages combined with his position as Hokage of Konohagakure would make the plan, his plan, close to infallible.

The same day, he listed Haruno Sakura as the number one criminal and missing nin of Konoha. At least, he thought, Tsunade deserved as much. As he declared war on the Haruno, who was now one of the most hated in the village, with the exception of the Kyuubi, he also formed a team called Retribution Task Force, which was to be a higher class military cell than the hunter nin. The team's purpose was to track and kill missing nin from Konoha. And what was left unsaid, but yet was so obvious, was that all of their strength would be used to find and kill Haruno Sakura.

Hatake Kakashi had volunteered to be the captain of the team, and Danzō had agreed.

* * *

_The Man with a Borrowed Eye, Hatake Kakashi_

The sun was dark. Words escaped him. Carnal thoughts claimed his mind. The rustle of cherry blossom leaves made him turn his head, filled with paranoia.

Come to your senses.

Everything was upside down and nothing would ever be as it was before. Kakashi cursed himself for not having seen it earlier. He had known that Sakura hated Tsunade for whatever reason, and she had displayed such disobedience before that Kakashi wondered why Tsunade hadn't reprimanded her. Maybe Tsunade still had had fond feelings for the girl when she was alive, before the girl had become consumed in hatred and darkness. Kakashi knew it had something to do with Sakura's sword, since Naruto had mentioned it was cursed and that a demon hid inside its blade.

The Kyuubi container hadn't seemed bothered by it, but maybe that was because he had a monster sealed inside his own stomach.

Those eyes - the alien green colour; those hard, pale eyes - they should have told him all he needed to know. He should have fucking seen it coming.

Yet he had foolishly trusted in the girl, as he once had in Sasuke. He had trusted in her devotion to the village. He had trusted her logical reasoning. He had trusted her once-pure heart. He had trusted the stability she once had provided for Team Seven; she was the one who kept the two powerhouses from clashing. She had been the normal one, kept the insanity at a stable level, and now, she had shattered whatever was there. The bonds and trust she had were nothing now. She had become the embodiment of the insanity Naruto and Sasuke had somehow kept at bay within themselves.

The Copy Nin stretched over the paperwork at his desk within ANBU headquarters, in his new office he had been given, as he was now the captain of Retribution Task Force. He had read through Sakura's file during the day and her development during the last years - it was a quite impressive resumé, he admitted with a foul taste in his mouth.

The number of her kills were unusually high for a shinobi her age, or rather, very much so for any active young shinobi. Being ANBU had allowed her access to its otherwise classified library and the reports section as well, and from the looks of the register she had scavenged through almost every single scroll and report in the ANBU archives. The Haruno's complete file told him her choice of weapon was her sword called Izanami, and her second asset was taijutsu and strategic planning, as well as a little genjutsu knowledge. Her eloquence and knowledge of different social situations led to her espionage and infiltration skills being superior to many Jounin, with regard to the amount of missions she had been assigned, combined with the usual seduction missions. Her animal summons were four Beasts, which she had acquired without any trouble, apparently. There was no intel on how she had received them, though there was information on what her summons were. A turtle, a bird, a tiger and... A dragon? Kakashi raised an eyebrow. He hadn't known dragons had even existed anymore. He had thought them to be extinct. This made her that much more of a threat...

He closed his eyes for a brief second. She, however, had no special move nor that much chakra in her body. Her chakra reserves were actually very small.

Kakashi had his Chidori, the gift of the Sharingan and his speed. Naruto had the Kyuubi's chakra, combined with the Rasengan and his kage bunshin jutsu, which made it so he was on an entirely different power level of his own. Sasuke had Orochimaru's sword, Kusanagi, and he could channel the Chidori through it to make it even more lethal. He also had his cursed eyes due to the heritage of his bloodline.

Sakura, on the other hand, didn't have any attack that was unique nor made her special. Or maybe it was just this that made her even more dangerous? Because she had been underestimated so many times, Kakashi recalled. Because she had to work harder than the others... The file told him she had picked several different teachers, and in doing so, learned of many different techniques. Because she was just ever changing and never stuck for too long with one technique. Maybe her arsenal of little techniques, jutsus, taijutsu and ninjutsu was what had made her into a threat to even the former Hokage of Konoha.

Kakashi sighed and read on, and he came to a part further down on the Haruno's shinobi statistics that told him her mission to Snow and her assassination of the Snow Daimyo had made her known. Following that, she had been added as a threat into Bingo Books, where she was called Cherry. Her bounty had been raised quite a bit when she killed the Akatsuki member Sasori. Kakashi sighed again. He hoped that no hunter nin would get to her first.

He was the one who had once been her teacher and he would be the one to take responsibility for her delirious state, and subsequently, her fall into darkness. He would capture her and drag her back to Konoha by her fucking pink hair if he had to. And if necessary, if there was no other choice, if she raised her katana that was drenched in Tsunade's blood against him, he would kill her. His heart ached, but he dismissed his sentimental emotions and focused on his hatred for the young woman. She wasn't the same as she had been before. She had become a disloyal murderer, and that was what she was. Kakashi imagined her laughing at him now, at his idiocy, and he grit his teeth.

Naruto would probably interrupt if he meant to kill Sakura, but Kakashi thought, for once, that that could be overlooked. Naruto was naïve to a certain point of foolishness. What Sakura had done was not amenable. It was unacceptable, unforgivable.

Sasuke could reach retribution, or at least only imprisonment for his defection, since he had not done any harm to Konoha. Sakura, however, was a threat to Konoha, a larger threat than Sasuke now. Killing a Hokage is equal to declaring war on a village. And similarly, she had killed all of his former fond feelings for her, his first pupil. Killed his warmth towards her, killed his trust he had held to her, killed the simple notion of her ever being the first one who had seen his face in a spar and blushed. And she would most certainly face the consequences. Kakashi swore to it.

Oh, she would pay.

The silver haired man decided and closed his eye, not acknowledging the feeling of the single burning tear soaking into the black bandana covering his features. It disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared and left no trace of its short existence.

* * *

_A Wild Cat in the Forest, Boshi_

His paws skulked silently on the forest floor, his yellow eyes alert to every move out of the ordinary, and his ears perked at every misplaced sound. He had once been called Boshineko, but that was his name no longer. Now, he was the beast that roamed the forest. The fear of mice and birds. He stood above them all. He was gallant in his movements, invisible to the prey's eyes until it was too late.

A scent that was out of place in the forest made his whiskers twitch in curiosity. It was a scent he didn't recognise. As he rounded a tree, he saw a female human staggering against a tree, red stains dripping from a gash at her midsection, bruises covering her arms. Her eyes were blurry yet clearly mossy green.

"Fucking hunter nin," the female growled to herself, the sound similar to an animalistic snarl. "It's not nice attacking while someone is asleep, especially not while that person is dreaming of dying on a battlefield already. Asscracks." She coughed.

Then her eyes snapped to his curious, fur-covered form, and she released a shaky breath as he pawed up to her. He involuntarily stroked his orange head against her dirty leg, and she looked down at him. Sweat and blood dripped from the bridge of her nose.

She reminded him of home. She was warm.

"Oh, little one." Her voice was croaky and her throat tight, but he liked the sound of her voice. He didn't understand her, but all she displayed towards him was warmth.

He meowed meekly and stroked his head against her leg again. Shakily, the female human bent down and slumped down in the process, leaning her back against the tree. She huffed harshly, but all the same her shaky fingers found his fur and he purred loudly as she caressed him.

"You dare come close to a monster, kitty?" Her bloodied mouth quirked, and it looked almost feline, her teeth just not as pointed. Her eyes blurred even more and something salty that was not sweat dribbled down from the green whirlpools.

Her scent was dangerous, this female human, but it was similar to his own in some way. He wondered, as he purred under her caressing hands, if she enjoyed playing with her prey, too. If she missed her home, as he did. Home had been the ones who had once called him Boshi - his family, but he was now called the beast of the forest. Abandoned, but he didn't like to see it as that. This female, though, might prove to battle his place as the top of the food chain in his forest, in his kingdom.

He stayed with her for a while. She had transitioned to breathing shallowly, like she had water in her lungs, and he licked his nose curiously as her hands shook more than before on his head. Suddenly, the female coughed and stopped caressing him, and her fingers started to glow with some kind of energy, with a greenish light, as she reached for her chest. Boshi yanked back and growled at the abnormal light of her hand. With wide eyes, the female looked at him as her hand hovered above her abdomen, where most of the red stains were. He saw her skin knitting together underneath the green light. Boshi backed away, snarling. What was that human doing? It was unnatural.

"No, please stay, don't leave me -" she began, then violently coughed more red liquid into her hand. The green light stopped. She tried to reach for him, but he hissed at her fingers and eyed her sharply. She was too strange.

"Little kitty, please. Come back." She croaked and tried to raise herself, but she fell back due to her weakened state. Boshi only looked at her with bristled fur and turned his tail, prodding away into the night. He had better things to do than pretend a strange and dangerous and dying female human was his family. The last choked words of the female reached his ears as he disappeared behind a bush.

"P-please..."

* * *

_The Oblivious Hunter Nin, Tachibana_

Her eyes were dead.

It was like the kunoichi called Cherry didn't even see, her eyes were just that empty. Tachibana smirked as he kicked her in her stomach. She went limp to the ground on the pathway of the Sekai Forest, on her knees. Just like he liked his women, he chuckled to himself. The Hunter Nin strolled up to her, to stand behind her, and he took a hold of her messy pink hair. With satisfaction, he yanked her hair back so hard her head snapped backwards. The kunoichi groaned, but oddly enough, it didn't sound like it was out of pain.

"Ugh, not this again. Should have kept it short." She groaned, and he tugged at her hair, minutely adjusting his hold to get a better grip. He smirked and lifted her up, so only the shins of her legs touched the ground. His two Hunter Nin companions looked at her condescendingly, not even having had to help him in capturing the infamous Cherry. She was such an overrated scam.

"Yes, you should have, Cherry. Having long hair is only for powerful shinobi, like the legendary Madara and Hashirama, since they were just so strong none would ever be able to take hold of their hair. A little brat like you, having vanity as your focal point in life -"

He was abruptly cut off when the girl flicked out a kunai in less than a millisecond, and without looking back, embedded it into his eye socket. He screamed and let go of her pink locks of hair, taking with him a few strands as he stumbled back. His eye was destroyed and blood and pain blurred the vision of his untouched eye. A throbbing fire engulfed his senses as he clutched his face, screaming.

"You're one of those that talk too much, number four hundred and three," the missing nin from Konoha said, a grim smile ghosting her cerise lips as she jumped up, drew her sword and went on to unflinchingly sever the head of his companion, Risao. Houto fled into the woods at the gruesome sight of Risao's head rolling on the ground. The vicious pink haired girl only glanced at Houto, who was running away through the forest, simply shrugging, and her eyes returned to Tachibana's own.

He felt the world spin around in pain, and the edges of his healthy eye's vision started to darken and fog, and he coughed scarlet blood on the ground.

The last words he heard were delivered boredly: "And I like my hair long." And then he jerked back, a blade pierced his throat, and Tachibana gurgled blood. All was nothing.

* * *

_The Red-headed Master of Chains, Uzumaki Karin_

"That tight skirt will make for slow running, you know. Either you'll trip or it'll ride up."

"Sasuke-kun likes my short skirt! And it shows off my slender legs."

"Whatever floats your boat, bitch. You have no legs to show off anyway," Suigetsu snarled. Karin growled in anger.

"Oumph!" Karin squealed as a man ran into her, making her fall to the ground as he stumbled, but he continued to scuffle away without a second glance. Karin felt the twitching vein at her forehead as she plucked up her fallen glasses, and within moments, she was up on her feet and flung a kunai at the man, which was swiftly embedded into his knee cap. He fell with a helpless howl to the ground, and Karin stomped up to him.

It was a hunter nin, a mediocre one. Brown hair, rimmed black eyes. And he was crying. Gross.

"You're going to pay for this! Bumping into me like that, you disgusting maggot -" Karin growled, feeling herself blush despite herself as she wondered if the man of her dreams had seen her fall. So fucking embarrassing.

"What were you running away from?" Juugo asked as a bird perched on his finger. He stroked it gently on top of its head with his large index finger.

"Th-the Cherry... She killed Taichou a-and Risao...Oh god -" The brown haired hunter nin choked on his words; the crying wouldn't stop as he tried to yank the kunai out of his leg in a frenzy.

"Who's that?" Suigetsu asked, his interest perking. "Cherry? Never heard of her."

"She's going to come after me!", the hunter nin wailed, hands shaking so much he couldn't pull out the kunai as blood seeped in trails from the wound. "I knew they weren't just rumours, but Tachibana wouldn't listen, she's a white eyed demon! He wouldn't fucking listen, he wouldn't -"

The hunter nin continued to snivel. Then, in a flash, the man was pinned up into the air as a hand gripped his throat. Choking with surprised eyes, the nin tried to claw at the man holding him up in the air, but it was futile. Suddenly, scarlet, dead eyes caught the hunter nin and he stopped struggling. His body went limp in the strong grip of the black-haired, handsome man with eyes of hatred.

"Her hair... Was her hair pink?"

* * *

_The Cloud Watching Boy, Nara Shikamaru_

He sat in the Nara's garden, alone with his dark thoughts and a game of shogi. He moved a piece. For a few moments, he assessed the board game, and then, without warning, he slammed his fist on the board. It violently shattered into a hundred pieces. Shikamaru was not prone on showing emotions other than troubled distress, but now he was a wreck. A constant wreck.

He had a white linen cloth left; he hadn't washed it for weeks, and his hand unconsciously sought its comforting fabric at his side. He gripped it and kneaded with his hand absentmindedly. She had slept on it once, and it still smelled like her. It had been warm once. But it was fading. Everything was fading. He didn't know what to believe. He was useless, a used toy, a kicked stone, a useless cloud in the sky. Abandoned. Listless.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared in front of him on the grassy ground. Shikamaru looked up and his eyes met white, and for a moment his heart stopped. But it was opalescent white, no pupil, and he breathed. His lungs hurt. A tall, gangly man, who had once stood so stoically and proudly, now looked so haggard and thin Shikamaru had to look away. Neji's cheekbones were even more visible now, and strangely enough, it made him look even more handsome. His eyes were hazed, yet there was something different this time when Shikamaru dared to look again at the prodigy. Something different from when the Council had officially announced the murder of Tsunade and Sakura's defection. Something different that he couldn't put his finger on.

"We need to talk."

* * *

_The Avenger, Uchiha Sasuke_

A week after they had stumbled upon the hunter nin, who had so easily fallen for the Sharingan, he had told them about the Cherry - Sasuke had found her. The raven haired avenger found her in an underground dirty bar filled to the brink with criminals in Iwagakure. Several empty saké cups were littered in front of her at the bar, and little spills were scattered everywhere. Her face was flushed; she rested her head against the palm of her hand and she didn't even look at him when he entered the bar, even though he knew she could sense him. She sighed and sipped from a saké cup. Her face was caked in dried mud and her otherwise cherry-kissed lips were chapped, and yet her eyes were so green they pierced everything she looked at.

She wore a scruffy black jacket, dirty grey hakamas, and she hid her long pink hair inside a peculiar hat. She looked more like an adolescent boy than anything. It was quite a good disguise, Sasuke admitted. He wondered what kind of mission she was on. He had heard something had happened back in Konoha, but he hadn't cared to look into it. What they did was their business and it was nothing of his concern. But this girl was.

"If you're going to kill me, do it after I finish my saké, but before I have to pay the tab." Sakura drawled with closed eyes and sipped from her ceramic cup containing saké - probably with an alcohol content high enough to kill a horse. Sasuke saw how the alcohol in her blood made her unsteady, but she kept at it, as if the liquid was life-giving, like the air she breathed. It was as if she wanted to drink herself to death.

"I am not here to fight you, Sakura," the man said with a raspy, deep voice, right next to her ear. "Come outside. I need to talk."

"Oh? Finally come to your senses, Sasuke-hime?" She clicked her tongue sardonically as she slapped her payment on the table. To the bar owner's surprise, it was a whole lot more money than what she owed. Without showing it, Sasuke felt the sudden need to raise an eyebrow, but his face remained impassive as they strolled outside the bar.

Sasuke-hime?

She almost seemed self destructive, as she didn't even give him any attention nor prepared for a fight. Her casual form besides him gave no notion of even acknowledging the fact he was her childhood love, that he was a defector to Konoha, that he had been the one to approach her for once, for the first time ever. Like she didn't care if he killed her on the spot. They continued toward the outskirts of the village. After a little while of walking in silence, with the exception of Sakura's occasional hiccup, the pinkette glanced over at him.

"So where's your lover?" Her question directed at him threw him off. Sasuke turned his head to look at her and she only smirked arrogantly. He didn't answer her.

"I mean that snake pedophile. I thought you two were glued together," she continued and stretched casually. He heard her vertebrae crack.

"Orochimaru is dead," Sasuke stated coldly, emotionlessly. Anyone else with a shred of sanity would have shivered and hurried quickly away, but Sakura only laughed. He admitted to having killed one of the legendary Sannin of Konoha, a crazed criminal at that, and she laughed?

"Oh. So you finally flicked him off? Congratulations. Well done." Sakura clapped her hands slowly and smiled. Sasuke's eye twitched. The pinkette seemed to notice and she shrugged at his annoyance.

"It was nice talking to you, Hime. Really. But I want to be alone," she said, and her green eyes flickered away to look up into the night sky. "You should leave. You're good at that."

"No," Sasuke said. He dismissed the slight and gripped her shoulder to make her turn towards him. Sleazy verdant met sharp charcoal black. She didn't flinch or back away from the contact. Sasuke knew his fingers were cold on her hot skin.

"I am here to ask you to join me," he said, his flat black eyes locking on to hers. "I have realised that you are more important than I at first thought. That you're beneficial to me. That we share common goals."

Sasuke looked at her as her pink eyelashes fluttered like the lightest beating of wings. Her breath came out ragged and her eyes flashed white for one second.

"Are you seriously fucking with me?" Sakura snapped, and her weary green eyes met his again, clashing. He edged closer to her and she didn't back away, her chin held high as she stared back into his black orbs, having to look up since he was taller than her now.

"I have a certain need of you."

Sasuke touched her lips with his thumb as he stepped into her personal space in a flash, and she quivered, confusion visible in her pale green eyes that were clouded by alcohol, but she didn't move away. As if she was trapped in his dark eyes. Oh, she probably was.

"I crave you."

Then he tilted his head, Sakura's eyes grew wider, and he grazed her lips with his own, and so uncharacteristically softly he kissed her - lightly. Her lips were soft and yielding and slightly moist and he felt how her chakras became chaotic; they were now in a perfect turmoil, mixed with her confused feelings of love and whatnot. Her old feelings for him must have surfaced, and the tremor in her body told him she remembered her lost childhood love. He kissed her again, his hand gripping the nape of her neck and her breath becoming ragged, and she kissed him back.

He felt her chakras twist and then - and then - the timing was right. Sasuke withdrew from the dazed and drunk girl and started mumbling the right, forceful words he had been taught.

It was too late when Sakura realised it was an incantation as Sasuke performed the necessary seals with his hands; she didn't even have the time to draw Izanami.

"I hereby declare the termination of the contract that Haruno Sakura owns over the Celestials the Azure Dragon and the White Tiger. Due to the contractor's incompetence, the removal is approved by the Celestial Beasts. The Heavens have agreed and the dissolution takes action now. Release!" Sasuke commanded and released his fingers.

Sakura screamed, as if something ripped her apart inside. She scratched at her neck as it was lit up at the nape. Sasuke didn't have time to think about what the source was. Two pillars of white and azure powerful chakra shot off from her neck, and she screamed again as the two, most likely contracting, seals were dissolved. A crackling sound erupted in the background, and the energies shot off towards Sasuke. He lit up as the forces hit him. The Uchiha bit his lip hard as the pain burned his insides, and two powerful presences seemed to be incorporated into his being. The upheaval was complete. And now, he was the contractor to the two Kings Byakko and Seiryu.

He had succeeded, and the look in the pink girl's eyes was priceless, Sasuke scoffed to himself.

"Ghn. Y-you never change, do you - why?" She moaned weakly, coughed as she staggered to a nearby tree, holding herself up as she clung to the cursed katana in her hands. His arrogance took over him and he looked down on her condescendingly. Sasuke smirked, his eyes flashing hot. He was overflowing with newfound power, and she couldn't possibly do a thing to him in that pathetic state; why not explain it to her?

"Izanagi-sama told me to fool you, so that your and that demon Izanami's feelings would turn into one with hatred and foolish love. Only in that case of unruled chakras could the contract with your Beasts be terminated. It would leave you in a chaotic state of chakras and the Beasts would have nothing steadfast to hold on to anymore," Sasuke drawled as he called upon Seiryu and Byakko.

After another short incantation, the two Celestial Beasts appeared in a flash and Sasuke smirked as they bowed to him in their animal forms. He knew they did not respect him as of yet, since they only were there for Izanagi's sake, but he would make them respect him. He would make them see he was powerful and a force to be feared.

In a flash of intense lightning, the two other Beasts that still belonged to the pinkette appeared besides Sakura, still in their weaker human forms. The red headed man Suzaku snarled and the other scarred man, Genbu, only looked at his two animal brothers standing at Sasuke's side.

"Byakko. Seiryu. What is the meaning of this?" Suzaku, the vermillion bird in the form of a male human, asked as he grit his teeth. Wings of blood suddenly sprouted from his back, reaching far and wide, covering Sakura and sweeping her to him. The moment she lost consciousness, for she would soon, Suzaku and Genbu would disappear. They weren't as strong as they had been when they were complete - The Four Kings together. Now they were only half the force.

The azure dragon called Seiryu let his tail slide around in the foliage, as if ready to spring at any moment.

"I have no obligation to work together with Izanami. My loyalty lies with Izanagi, the creator of all. I finally found him in this sword and I intend to follow him. Haruno Sakura was merely a deliverer, the agreement to work with Izanami only a means to get to Izanagi-sama." The dragon clipped his jaw with its sharp teeth and his eyes were hard as diamonds.

"What - You fool!" Suzaku snapped.

"You are aware that you are betraying us, Seiryu, Byakko?" Genbu said grimly. "Is all this worth it?"

"I have never seen you as brothers. My true King is Izanagi and I will do anything for him," Byakko growled. "It is unfortunate that you two dwell in the darkness with Izanami, the evil fallen goddess. Otherwise, we would have asked you to join us."

"You are blind." Genbu said and his eyes were so sad Sasuke thought it almost pitiful.

"No, it is you that cannot see. Izanami has always been our enemy, and you are working together with her. You are a disgrace to the Heavens! You know that she killed Otohime." Byakko snarled and whipped his tail. Seiryu almost flinched at the mention of Otohime, his scales glittering and his blue eyes sharp with pain.

"We have never worked with Izanagi either. We have been as neutral as possible and with that, I have realised the world is not black and white, neither good nor evil. If you cannot comprehend what your true want is, then I am sorry for you," Suzaku said, regaining his steely composure.

Sakura breathed heavily. Her skin was slick with sweat and her hair hung messily over her swimming green eyes. She was in shock, still, as she lay on the feather wings of blood.

"Come, Seiryu, Byakko. The annoyance is not worth killing," Sasuke ordered, authority rumbling in his dark voice. He had other matters to take care of, and she was on the brink anyway.

"Yes, Uchiha," Seiryu submitted, withdrawing his claws. Byakko growled and Sasuke saw iron hard muscles ripple beneath the white fur, but he retracted. Sasuke jumped up to stand on Seiryu's back, not even bothering to ask for permission. He was their contractor, after all. Seiryu only craned his long neck to glance at him, then flapped his wings, which created strong wind currents around them. He hovered above the ground for a moment and then shot off into the night sky. Byakko ran under them, pawing his way through the forestation. Sasuke didn't bother looking back at the girl.

Sasuke felt power surge through him. Izanagi-sama would be pleased with his accomplishment - catching the two heavenly Beasts that once had belonged to the creator of everything. The avenger knew this would most certainly give him the upper hand against his brother. At that, Sasuke felt his chest throb. Pain? No, it didn't hurt, he reprimanded himself. It was only the motivational tightening of his lungs.

His mother's corpse flashed before his eyes. White skin patterned with trails of vermillion. The metallic and yet sweet stench crept into his nose. The creak of the wooden floor as his brother turned around. He only needed to blink once, and the image was gone. He had learnt how to suppress the memories, but not fully. His determination deepened, his hatred deepened. He knew he would succeed - there was no other option. Itachi was going to die.

* * *

_The Red-headed Master of Chains, Uzumaki Karin_

"Was the encounter successful?" Juugo asked, looking up from the pot of rice he was cooking. Karin started. She inwardly flinched, sitting still at the table, and looked up from her book only to see her beloved future husband step into their current hideout's cooking quarters. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw his pale skin, broad shoulders, and that handsome face turn to Juugo. His mouth was in a sexy, stern line.

"Hn."

"Oh, that's great! We can celebrate it then, can't we, Sasuke-kun?" Karin said as she jumped up from her chair and bit her glasses seductively, her charm regaining a hundred percent. The sinfully handsome man didn't even spare her a glance as he went to his chambers. Karin scurried behind him, but she was met by a door slamming on her face. She wailed and clutched her throbbing nose, backing away.

Maybe this wasn't the right time, she thought to herself grumpily. She'd go pester Suigetsu instead. In the silence, the three members of Hebi understood that their leader was not to be disturbed the rest of the night. He skipped the dinner Juugo had made for everyone.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hi guys!

Long time no hear. I've been really really busy, that's why it's taken so long for this chapter to get out into freedom! And you know what? I've got the best Beta Reader ever. EVER.

Go to **isolationism** and say hi. She's been helping me so much, and she's currently going through every chapter, polishing it until it shines. Can't wait for her to come to my later stuff hihi.

If you have any questions, please PM! And I've started a community called _Careful Haruno Sakura, you badassery is showing_ and staff is always welcome to apply! And please follow if ya want as well.

There might take some time for the next chapter as well since I'll be really busy this summer. But please be patient!

Kisses y'all

fascalia


	17. See Me With Eyes of Ashes

**Transition**

Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.

Chapter 17

**See ****M****e With Eyes of Ashes**

Through the Eyes of an Old War Veteran, a Fox Boy and an Unmasked Man

* * *

_Track__er_ _Team Ten - Lee, Tenten and Neji_

On the path of the forest in Takigakure, the red swollen sun hung loosely in the late afternoon sky over the tree tops, what met his eyes was pink and what met hers was a pair of bushy brows.

"Sakura-chan?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake." Sakura muttered as Lee started, breathed deeply and then ran to her through the path of the forest, his eyes gleaming, on the brink to tears. The pinkette formed a defensive taijutsu stance and Lee came prepared. He would bring clarity to this, to the whole spectacle a month ago. He would bring her home, even if by force. He was so lucky to have stumbled upon her in the forest as he headed back from a little mission in Takigakure.

They found themselves in a taijutsu battle, him seeing panic rising in her glazed green eyes. She had probably not counted on stumbling upon Lee.

"I know you didn't do it!" He yelled, his voice hoarse, his throat tight as he avoided a roundhouse kick. He dove past underneath it and drove a high knee thrust towards her.

"It is what it is, so see it for what it is." Sakura wheezed through gritted teeth as she back flipped away. Her hair was in a sharp bun held up by senbon and sweat and grime covered her face and body. Lee guessed she had lived in the woods for a long time, as he sprinted after her. Maybe the whole week since she left Konoha.

"I know you! You'd never let your flower rot! You'd never raise your fist against Konoha!" He proclaimed as he swept her off her feet. Sakura landed on the ground on her hands, and in one swift movement rolled back. A second after, Lee's feet planted into the ground where she had just been.

"Then what am I doing now?" She asked as she clenched her fist, jumped from her crouching position and struck him hard in the gut. Stumbling back from the force of it, Lee knew she had used chakra to strengthen her punch, and she retracted back up on a tree branch above him. Blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth and he spat it out as he jumped up on a tree branch over her. The pinkette looked up at him with dark green eyes.

"I'm rotten, Lee. Realise that!"

As they continued to fight with their fists, Lee noted the kunoichi hadn't drawn her sword, it was still strapped on her back and that made his determination fuel into an inferno. She didn't want to hurt him truly, was his conclusion as to why she hadn't drawn the sword. And she used no ninjutsu nor genjutsu. She kept the fight at a taijutsu level and Lee knew she would not win on his own ground. Maybe she was sentimental. Lee wondered if she really had been the one to strike Tsunade down.

But his thoughts were put to an end as Sakura kicked his head so hard he thought he heard his own skull crack and his ears rang. All he saw was stars as he crashed into the ground, creating a crater in the muddy forest floor. As the adrenaline in his body screamed 'danger', he slipped into the First Gate. The power from the opening of the gate made him jump up from the ground and in doing so avoiding Sakura's fast kick. He could not think of much as he saw his opponent with pink hair and he advanced, his speed increasing enormously. A flurry of his hits were barely countered by his opponent. He growled and opened the Second Gate, then the Third, then the Fourth. The grounds rumbled at his feet. His opponent would taste the ground.

Then Sakura pulled out a syringe in one movement from her thigh pocket as he was about to break her leg and she shoved it into Lee's arm. Everything blurred and he couldn't see as the poison spread through his veins within seconds, accelerated by the adrenaline and the open gates. He saw, as if in slow motion, how the pinkette raised her leg. He couldn't do anything.

"Code Break: Cherry!" Lee shouted into his earpiece which he was able to turn on at the same moment, as he crashed into a tree from the force of Sakura's kick. A minute later, Lee saw through blurred eyes iron wires with hooks flew off from the foliage of a nearby oak tree, the rounded blades of the hooks catching Sakura's arm, pushing into her flesh and to the ground as Tenten yanked the iron wire. The hooks dug deep into the kunoichi's arm and blood seeped from the wounds as Sakura grunted.

"I'll give it back. Tenfold." Tenten snarled and Lee, who slumped on the tree he had crashed into, saw in horror that the kunoichi was about to cut off Sakura's leg with her two tantos, raising them above her head as she stood in front of Sakura who was trapped by wires. Lee tried to get up, but he fell down. A few of his ribs were broken and he coughed in annoyance into his hand, not caring about the darker colour of his blood dribbling down his fingers.

"Little birds shouldn't fly away from their cages." Tenten sang, bits of madness leaking into her shrill voice as she danced towards the trapped kunoichi. "Little birds should have their wings clipped so they never fly away again."

"Tread carefully, Tenten." Sakura said as she was trapped by the rounded blades that dug deep into her arm, watching Tenten lightly walk towards her while swinging her tantos with her right hand, the other she yanked the hooks deeper into Sakura's arm. "The forests are never what they seem here."

The illusion was dispelled by Tenten with a loud snarl when she slashed her tantos down on the pinkette's leg, only to see Sakura poof into a smoke cloud. Behind her, the pink haired kunoichi appeared, drawing kunais fluently. As she leapt towards Tenten, a sudden storm of fists pummelled at her side and she jumped away, wounded with bruises and a few tenketsu points shut off.

Neji appeared behind the smoke cloud created by the flurry of a hundred fists, his eyes as opalescent as ever, and his expression was the epitome of calmness. Sakura crouched and her eyes fixated on him. Neji thought he saw her lower lip quiver as he came into view, but he dismissed it as part of the pain from her wounds.

"Eight Trigrams Palms : Revolving Heaven." He said coldly as he in a flash was within her zone. Then he pressed his feet to the ground and rotated as he started spinning rapidly, releasing huge amounts of chakra from all the chakra points on his body. In the process, Sakura was tossed away by the sudden explosive force of Neji spinning at 1200 km/h and evaporating chakra and she crashed into a tree and went through it, only to crash into a second tree. Neji could almost hear her bones cracking.

Flash stepping to her huddled form of blood and pink mussed hair he was shortly followed by Tenten, and Lee dragged himself to where they stood in front of the betrayer. The killer. The traitor wearing the disguise of a pink haired innocent girl. Neji looked down on her as she struggled to raise herself off the ground, to get away. But he wouldn't let her.

"I'm disappointed." Neji said with ice in his voice. Sakura said nothing as she was suddenly pinned to the ground, her head bowed down by Neji's hand. "I'm disappointed that you won't tell us the truth." He said then, quietly. The pinkette didn't deem him worthy of an answer as she looked down on her ravaged hands. Neji distantly noted she hadn't touched Izanami who was strapped diagonally over her back and shoulders.

"It must be some kind of scheme. Her youthful flower will never bloom in darkness." Lee added and his eyes burned, as he leaned at a nearby tree, the bruises on his legs and his slight concussion making a harsh reminder. All due to Sakura. Tenten snorted.

"She broke my fucking leg on purpose. She argued constantly with Tsunade. She's killed more than all of us together, Kakashi told me. She's deranged! All she wants is blood. No wonder she killed Tsunade. And not in a honourable fashion at that; she poisoned the saké so Tsunade would be weakened when she attacked her!" The weapons wielding kunoichi growled as she stomped up to where Neji pinned Sakura to the ground. The pinkette watched them all for one quiet moment, taking in Tenten's angry eyes, Lee's pained movements, Neji's stillness. Then she scoffed, closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were blank, unreflecting. Almost unseeing, it seemed.

"That's right. The old bitch deserved to die." Sakura said, her first words to Neji since he had come into the forest clearing. She looked at him and the others stilled.

"Did you know what she was going to do?" Anger was audible in her voice, building up, her lower lip no longer trembling. "She was going to strip my hitai-ate. She was going to take away all that I am - a shinobi of Konoha. She was going to make me into a civilian for fuck's sake! _She_ was the one who betrayed _me_! She said I was too mentally unstable to continue as shinobi. She said I didn't listen to orders and I killed as I liked - and what's wrong with that? Blood is beautiful. There is no inequality in blood. And Tsunade's blood was pretty on my hands. She deserved to die, to receive my gift." Sakura's breath became ragged, sharp, hot. The pink haired, down pinned girl grit her teeth.

"Don't you see? I gave everything for Konoha's sake. My innocence, my clean hands - I would have given my life! But for what? She betrayed me and she had to pay for it. Konoha is no longer my home - it is for the weak, the worthless and undetermined. I... despise you all!" Sakura screamed, her apple green eyes wide and intense. Sweat slipped into her eye and trailed down her chin.

"You're insane." Tenten gasped. "You're absolutely fucking insane."

Neji choked on his words. She truly had killed Tsunade. She was a traitor. He couldn't love her. There was no sense in loving her. There was no reason. She was nothing.

"You low life of a kunoichi." Tenten spat at Sakura's face. The spit dribbled down on the pinkette's cheek, her eyes emptier than ever before. Since Sakura gave no response and her display of anger had receded, Tenten grew furious and kicked the kunoichi on the ground hard enough to make her cough red liquid, making Neji's hand lose the grip of her head. The pinkette slumped on the forest floor.

"That was unnecessary." Lee said and grit his teeth, struggling to come closer to the clearing.

"Was it?" Tenten growled. "I don't know this girl. She's a defector and a murderer - the least she fucking deserves is a kick! She's got Tsunade's blood on her and she betrayed us. She's nothing to me. She's just an insane piece of shit, worse than scum."

Sakura chuckled under her ragged breath, and that was it for Tenten.

Tenten started kicking Sakura in her stomach, her face, her arms, until the pinkette's eyes almost rolled back, and Neji didn't stop her. He didn't find itself within him. He would never harm her while she was down, but he just didn't want to stop Tenten. Nor did Lee, though mostly because of his inability to move, yet he called for her to stop. Tenten wouldn't listen, so they watched. Until Tenten was left breathless and the pink had turned red she was satisfied and huffed, the rage leaving her. She looked down on the girl who still had those dead eyes, not even acknowledging the apparent pain. Not acknowledging the pained hatred in Tenten's eyes.

Lee watched Sakura and her eyes weren't full of hatred; they were full of understanding - not insanity. Or that was, perhaps, what he wanted to believe.

"We've all been brutally manipulated by her." Tenten wheezed and closed her eyes for a moment, and Neji made the mistake of looking away from Sakura to Tenten.

"Rising of the Blood Moon : stage one." Sakura whispered as she formed the ram and dragon seals together with a sign Neji had never seen before, and the prodigy cursed himself for not having chained her hands. The Konoha Nin stilled and were trapped in her little genjutsu, making them see a moon pool blood down on the forest floor and the sky turned scarlet. Neji was fast to dispel it, and he forced Tenten's chakra to drain and coil and push out Sakura's chakra, but the pinkette had already slipped his grip. Lee wasn't affected, but he was exhausted due the opening of the Fourth Gate so he didn't make much use to them now. And Neji knew he was too conflicted emotionally to actually harm Sakura due to his feelings for her.

Neji whipped a palm fist against her as he ran after her, but she was there but wasn't. A flicker, an illusion of a second that made her look like she was one centimetre to the right from where she stood or ran was all it took to create chaos as they approached her. Team Ten were fully coordinated with each other, Tenten middle ranged, Lee close combat and Neji in the rear but he changed positions with Lee occasionally. They took their turns, swivelled, jumped, crossed each other's paths without disturbing the other. However, the pinkette held up, although barely. And she was hurt. How come she evaded every strike, every hit directed at her? Did they hold back unintentionally or had she become just that good?

Then Neji realised what she had done. She had layered two genjutsus - the first with the bloody moon as a decoy and then the one-second flicker, where she left a ghost image of herself one step to the right. Clever, Neji commented to himself as he dispelled the genjutsu.

He expected no less from the pink haired kunoichi that he had once fallen for. Now, he was pulling himself up. To him, it seemed more and more likely she had killed Tsunade and betrayed Konoha. Hiashi-sama had warned him about this so many times; never get attached to someone who revels in the blood of their enemies since the blood they crave will always be red, and all shinobi has the red blood pulsing in them. Once they crave it, they can't see faces anymore. Not even familiar ones, or of the ones they love.

"Enough of this." Neji heard her murmur, her breath had become sharper and shorter. She was exhausted and wouldn't hold out for too long. Her fingers cradled each other in ram, dragon and wolf seal as she evaded a hammer directed at her from Tenten, and she ducked to avoid a high kick from Lee. Neji approached her fast, intent on ending the fight.

A scroll appeared in the pinkette's hands and she poured most of her chakra in it, then she flicked something between her index finger and thumb, something she achieved from the scroll, and an explosive tag detonated between Lee and Tenten. They evaded it but then the gas from the explosion thickened and they realised too late that it was poison gas. It had immediate effect and Tenten staggered and cursed, then fell to the ground with closed eyes. Lee slumped against the tree and his breathing slowed, his eyes drooping but they still locked on the pinkette who breathed the poison gas as if it was nothing. And his male teammate's complexion was just so hurt and pained Neji felt his head spin with anger.

"Where are you going?" Neji croaked as he fought the poison gas, trembling as he stood. He couldn't do anything, for fuck's sake. And she ran like water through his fingers.

"Anywhere." Sakura said and slipped away into the murky forestation, staggering yet still going. Neji didn't have the strength to curse as he felt the poison gas make him so sleepy, so sleepy...

He dreamed of catching goldfish. The festival's chattering noises, the laughter and the music were drained out as he focused on one particular goldfish in the clear water of the large glass bowl. He shifted his traditional dark blue yukata so it would not dip down into the water. The reflection of the surface told of a dark sky full of stars, sparkling in the far distance above. The goldfish he set his eyes on swum gently in the water and Neji caught its movements as a pattern. As he was about to swoop down at the right moment, the goldfish turned its bulging eyes up to his to stare into his own opalescent eyes of surprise.

Then it grew.

Pulsing, scales slithering, the goldfish became as large as the glass container and the other goldfishes were crushed to death. Neji fell back on the ground and stared at the goldfish that was changing and suddenly it had rows and rows of sharp teeth, all the while never breaking eye contact with him. Then it hulked and shreds of scales withered away and from its gaping mouth of teeth a woman emerged, naked and slick with water and saliva. She stepped over the glass container, stepped on the shards of glass and the mutated goldfish died. Her jade eyes pierced him.

He woke up to the sound of clattering steps and the beeping of a monitor. He groaned as he realised that the vicious pinkette had outsmarted them. Opalescent eyes met his opened ones and soft ultramarine blue hair draped over the girl's shoulder. Her white eyes widened and her dark eyelashes fluttered.

"H-he's awake! Thank g-god. Outo-sama, h-he's-"

And he hadn't been able to catch her.

* * *

_The_ _A__venger, Uchiha Sasuke_

When he was back in the lair, feeling the accomplishment of the mission wash over him, he felt a slight hum from Kusanagi. Or rather, from the embodiment of Izanagi, the God of Light, creator of the world. The raven haired avenger drew the sword he once had called Kusanagi and closed his eyes. Enveloped in light within his mind, he was met by a beautiful man that gently hovered down to him from the white sky, where a throbbing black sun hung in the vault of the heavens. Marble pillars shot down from the sky and Sasuke bowed his head politely as the pillars went crashing down everywhere. The beautiful man with a black kimono and waist long charcoal black hair nodded, acknowledging his respect.

"I broke the contract with Haruno and Byakko as well as Seiryu. They're free from her command." Sasuke said lowly, meeting the God's eyes without flinching. Thanks to that lovesick pinkette and her demon sword, Izanagi had successfully been able to make contact with Sasuke after that time Team Seven found Orochimaru's lair. And Izanagi had told him everything. Sasuke did not particularly enjoy the company of a God in his mind, but the God gave him power. It was highly beneficial.

"Well done, Uchiha. We will be able to merge now, and walk as one. Finally, after all this millennia, I will be able to walk the soils of the world once again." Izanagi said and smiled triumphantly, gazing away into the imaginary white horizon.

"Merge?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes. Bring forth the contracts with Seiryu and Byakko and call for them." The beautiful man said and his eyes flickered to Sasuke's onyx orbs. The avenger almost bowed down, but didn't.

"Alright." Sasuke bit off. He didn't like being ordered around, but this God was dangerous. He was no fool. He wouldn't disobey the creator, he wouldn't question him. Sasuke left the mindscape and the God disappeared from his vision, and he opened his eyes. He was back in the real world, in his hideout. His designated room was the largest, with five meters in height it was perfect for animal summonings.

With the incantation Izanagi had taught him, the two Beasts appeared before him. They bowed humbly to the avenger.

When Sasuke gripped the sword hilt of Izanagi to wait for further orders, he felt himself move and it was not on his command. Electricity came from the sword's hilt and into his body, and he spasmed. Shaking, unused, he moved his fingers. _But it wasn't him_. He didn't command his fingers to move. Someone else did. Sasuke wanted to look at his sword, at Izanagi, but he couldn't. All his eyes wanted to see apparently was the white tiger. All focus lay on Byakko, who still bowed to him.

Suddenly, he found himself pinning the white tiger with his sword, into flesh and bones and sinew the sword spun into the tiger's chest. Growling in pain, the tiger screamed. It almost sounded human. In a movement, he struck Izanagi into the lungs of the Beast. The heavenly Animal drowned in its own blood, coughing and sputtering, undignified squeals of death escaped his large jaws. As the large animal form of Byakko slumped down on the ground, Sasuke turned to Seiryu.

The dragon's eyes were piercing and cold and if he had had control over his own body he would have fallen due to the sheer pressure of the heavenly animal.

Sasuke moved as he never had before. He felt like he was going to explode as he evaded Seiryu's claws, jumped over his fire infernos, rolled underneath the dragon's tail as it whirled just past him, faster than a whip. It was not his movements. What was Izanagi-sama doing?

"Otohime's blood was a beautiful silver colour. Is your blood silver as well?" Sasuke found his mouth saying with a soft leer and the dragon's azure sclerae widened. A scream erupted from deep inside the dragon's long throat, such a painful scream Sasuke had never heard in his life before.

"It was _you_, not Izanami-" Seiryu's voice broke and his claws scratched the ground as he prepared for a leap. The dragon roared, but then he glanced at his fallen brother Byakko and in that moment of weakness, Sasuke thrust his sword. And thrust and thrust and thrust Izanagi into the dragon's stomach, breaking skin, breaking, breaking everything. And it wasn't blood that gurgled out, it was melted silver and ugly symphonies of lost atonement. And the dragon roared and spouted fire, but Sasuke simply slashed the inferno away with his sword. Then Seiryu died and his azure sclerae cried melted silver, as if the moon flowed down the glittering scales. The large Heavenly Animal fell at Sasuke's feet.

He wanted to get away - far away, yet he was fascinated with the way his body moved. He had managed to kill a dragon with the help of an incomplete Merge, the sword and Izanagi-sama. He definitely had a chance at killing his brother now. The sword glowed with the life energy of the dragon and the tiger in his grip.

"It is time. The Merge is like music. Just play with me." Izanagi whispered to him in the light. Sasuke nodded and closed his eyes, his breathing slowing down and his heart beat was almost non existent.

Then he felt it. Power surged, electricity made him shake, he was imploding because a thousand suns laid waste to his mind. Sasuke felt a grin plastered on his face; was it his own or the God's? The raven haired young man felt how his strength multiplied countless times and he was greatness itself and he could probably fly and turn water into gold and be the end of the world. And he comprehended.

They had Merged.

But the feeling of immortality was short lived. In a sudden blast, Sasuke felt his mind being pulled into a thousand directions. The omnipotent presence of Izanagi invaded his mind and he felt himself shattering. He tried to resist, pull away, push away, but it was too late. With blinding pain, as if the sun ravaged his mind, he felt himself lose to the God.

Izanagi filled his mind to the brink and Sasuke was pushed into a cell of shackles and chains. All was fire. He tried to wriggle loose, but the burning chains only came tighter to his body and he felt his flesh burn. In seas of fires, he was shackled in a cell in the back of his own mind.

"This mortal body will be fine for now. You have some interesting eyes, Uchiha."

The God Izanagi stood outside his cell of fire and Sasuke couldn't speak. He had been fooled. Izanagi had taken over his mind, his body, his will. He could only watch as Izanagi moved his own body and was in complete control of his mind. For the first time in his life, he felt useless. It was not an appreciated feeling.

"Fuck you. _Fuck_ you." Was all he could muster, biting and breathless, and the beautiful God only smiled gently, then disappeared in a blast of light. Sasuke tried all he could not to scream his lungs out.

He was obviously, completely royally fucked.

* * *

_The Old War Veteran in the Cabin, Kurotsuchi Miura_

As a twig broke under the sole of his bare feet, something in his peripheral vision caught his attention. She lay so still in the greenery he would have missed her had she not had that hair colour. The young woman barely breathed, she was bloody and held a sword like a baby in her arms. Miura wrinkled his eyebrows. He was too old for this, he tried to convince himself. But as he was about to turn his head away and pretend he had not seen the dying girl, he felt his heart ache.

_I'm not like my brother_, he reprimanded himself. With a heavy sigh, Miura returned to the pink haired girl. As he pawed up to her on the soft grass of the glade, he let go of the branches he had gathered and abandoned the medical mushrooms he had found.

The old man took hold of the girl's wrist and slung her over his shoulder, he wrapped up the strange old katana and carried her with him back to the cabin. His oddly slender and chiseled muscles that played underneath his loose shirt allowed for him, even though his age, to carry the pinkette like she was nothing but a feather.

Four days later she woke. He found her awake in his bed, since he had taken to sleep on the floor beside the fireplace, sitting up and she was staring at his wall. A wall, where a painting hung. It displayed a drawn swallow who was frozen in its thickly brushed movements in front of a full pale moon which hung in a sky without stars, contrasting its feathers into darkness. A poem had been beautifully written besides it. Miura's heart clenched as he read the words that he already knew without looking.

_See me, see me with eyes of ashes_

_See me, here is a child made of gas_

_Alone, on a ship called night_

_Alone, under a sky made of glass_

_I will never become older than this_

_The one I have been, I will always be_

_Never older than this_

_The one who has loved will know how lonely you are_

"That is an magnificent piece." The girl croaked, her voice unused and raspy. Her eyes were bloodshot, which made the green pupils stand out even more.

"Indeed it is. My deceased wife wrote the poem and drew the swallow." Miura explained as he sat down before her, ever so gallantly and traditionally correct he positioned himself in seiza.

"I'm sorry." She said, and there was not a hint of sadness in her voice. She only stared blankly at the painting of the escaping swallow.

"It was a long time ago. But she'll always be with me, in those words and brushed lines." The old man said and his eyes glinted.

"Thank you." The girl said after a little while. "Thank you for saving me." Miura saw how she added a few words silently, and he knew she whispered '_even though I don't deserve saving.'_

"Why are you crying, girl?" Miura asked as the late afternoon sunlight reflected in a teardrop on her cheek, making it look golden.

"I don't know anymore." She said emotionlessly as tears ran down her smooth skin, forming into two little golden streams. "For your deceased wife. For what could have been. For what is worthless. For the moon. I just- I don't know."

"Those are some reasons." He commented.

"Well, I have a life time of reasons to cry." She said and her voice was frosty, rimmed with sharp needles. Sardonic, her eyes lowering until they stuck on a crack in the wall.

"There are also a life time of reasons to smile. Trust an old man on this one." He chuckled and she raised her head, looking at him for the first time he entered the room. Her eyes glittered in recognition, then the flame died out just as fast. As if she had dismissed a thought.

"What is your name?" He asked her and she frowned, combing through her dirty pink hair with her slender fingers.

"Utsuro Sen." She said without hesitation. He chuckled to himself.

"Then, Utsuro-san, my name is Kurotsuchi Miura. You may simply call me Miura, little one."

"I am not so little." She said politely and defensively, yet he heard the bite in her tone.

"To me, liars are always little." He said and his grey eyes flittered to her widening green ones. She recovered quickly.

"How did you know? I gave nothing away in my expression. My breathing was perfect. I didn't think too long nor too little. My voice was steady. How did you know?"

"Little liars should know what gives them away. Are you truly a kunoichi, little girl?"

"Of course I am a kunoichi, old man. And a capable one at that." She said through gritted teeth, swelling her chest with unhidden anger.

"Apparently only by your own low standards, then." Miura chuckled.

"You-" She snapped, but then closed her eyes for a moment, taking a breath. Miura thought he had seen her eyes become white, but that must have been a play with the late afternoon sunlight reflecting in her eyes. Her anger receded and she controlled her breathing, her knitted eyebrows relaxing visibly.

Miura was not entirely impressed - controlling one's emotions was one of the most essential aspects of a shinobi's essence and partly reason of being. But this girl was nothing but an emotional wreck. He had only needed to press the sore wounds on her pride and heart and she had just let it all out. She had realised her mistake in the end, but if he had been an enemy, it would have been too late. Emotions were not unnecessary, was his belief, but in order to live life as a shinobi, one needed to be able to control them.

"You lie as well." Her voice suddenly rang to his ears like chiming bells in a breeze and the old man was caught in his mind's process. He stared at the pinkette who now had opened her eyes and she looked at him directly, her eyes clear of all anger. Purely verdant.

"Your deceased wife did not paint nor draw the swallow piece." She stated. Miura only looked at her for one moment, reassessing her abilities. Then he smiled sadly.

"The truth is that it was a lie." Miura agreed.

"You were the one to draw the swallow and write the poem." She said steadily.

"Correct. How did you know?"

"Your hands. The curve of the inside of your index finger tells of daily use of brushes, where it usually rests as you draw. There is a little ink stain in the corner, a smudge, probably where you usually draw. The poem was written with delicate swirls, similar to your drawing. However, that was only an assumption. And you confessed to it being true."

Miura smiled and nodded, tapping his cane with his fingers.

"Better, little one."

"Thank you." The pinkette smiled and Miura was glad there was a fire, or a little smouldering charcoal at least, lit in her eyes. Before, they had been more dead than the rotten leaves on the frosty grounds in autumn. He decided to help her.

They sat in silence as Miura rewrapped the bandages on the girl's body, cleaned the wounds and gave her some medical tea to help her sleep better. When he left her he looked back for one moment as he stood on the threshold to his now rented room, and he found her staring intensly at the fleeing swallow. Her eyes were clearly verdant and almost glowed in the dim light from the fading fireplace.

* * *

_The Shark Man, Suigetsu_

Sasuke had become strange, since that day he had gone without saying where. He came back more powerful, more contemplative. It seemed like he had become more curious, about the world, about them. Something was up, but Suigetsu couldn't for the life of it figure out what. Juugo was the one who had noticed first, but Suigetsu had shrugged it off. Karin had defensively hit him in his face, saying there was nothing wrong with Sasuke-kun.

But Suigetsu wondered, as he saw Sasuke standing outside the lair. The man was watching the moon.

* * *

_The Old War Veteran in the Cabin, Kurotsuchi Miura_

The girl was healing, but she was healing slowly. On the seventh day of her stay in his house, Miura understood that the girl didn't only need to heal her body.

When they ate dinner in silence, Miura knew he had grown fond of the girl. That was the reason he let her stay and recuperate. But she had been having little tidbits of moments when her face went blank and her eyes shifted colour. When she washed the dishes, helped him staple wood in the fireplace, when she tried to walk a longer distance together with him to the lake. She had so far seemed to be able to suppress whatever intense emotions she felt, but Miura wondered. He watched the girl swirl her noodles in circles with her chopsticks in front of him.

As Sen ate a scoop of noodles, she scrunched her nose and swallowed harshly, he saw she tried to hide her disgust but it was too apparent. He caught a flicker of an emotion he had not seen in her eyes before. As she stared at the noodles, she bit her lip and turned her head away.

"Is something wrong? It wasn't good?" He asked as he stirred his noodles, catching an onion with his chopstick. She looked up, startled and she put her chopsticks down.

"Ah, no! No, it's good. It's fine. I just thought I saw a hair strand in my udon." She smiled faintly. Green eyes blank.

"It's soba, Sen." Miura frowned.

The pinkette fell silent and her nose wrinkled as she looked at the noodles again. A sharp intake of a breath through her teeth warned Miura of what was to come.

"I-I feel sick." She stuttered and stumbled up from the table.

"Sen!" He called, still a bit of noodles in his mouth. "What's wrong?" He asked again and she only bit her lip, not saying anything. "You must tell me, so I can help you. Is it the wounds?"

"It's not... I know how this might sound, but I see _worms_ in my noodles." She breathed. Choked. "They're crawling- slithering and wriggling, you- crunch bones and when you eat, you break the worms with your teeth and it _crunches_-" Her voice came out in short gasps and her eyes turned glazed. Kurotsuchi recognised the panic attack and swallowed harshly as he rose to walk to her.

"There are no worms in your noodles, nor in mine. It's only noodles." He said, tried to reassure, and gripped her shoulder gently. She shook under his gangly, wrinkly fingers.

"I know. But _she_ makes me see it." She said breathily, her voice raspy as she yanked her head around and her apple green eyes were wild. Then her gaze went to the walls and they widened, as if the walls were bleeding.

"_Please_, stop!" She closed her eyes, wrenched and gripped her hair as the shaking in her body escalated. "Please, Izanami-sama!" She screamed and begged, clawing at her arms frenetically. He tried to wrench her fingernails from her skin, there was blood underneath her nails, and she squirmed in his grip. He had no time to wonder why she had called out a goddess' name.

"Please- I'm breaking..." She sobbed in his arms, her eyes hysterical and pained. "It tasted like salt, blood and bile - and sinewy muscles and crunchy bones. It tasted like..." Realisation then seemed to dawn on her scrawny features. "Like regret. I'm eating everyone I ever killed. She makes me-"

Then without a warning she hurled and hulked and vomited down on the floor and she cried, and cried and spit out everything there was in her stomach. Like she wanted to puke out her own soul.

"I hate noodles." She cried, shook and Miura cradled her to him. She was warm.

"You should have told me. I could have made a nice okonomiyaki instead."

"Okonomiyaki sounds… better." The girl sobbed in his arms.

After a while, the girl calmed down. Miura didn't ask why she had broken down - that was something for her to tell him. He was not one to probe. But he decided he would let her stay until she saw no more worms in her noodles.

On the tenth day, she pulled out black bracelets from a scroll and clipped them onto her wrists and ankles, three on each arm and wrist. It looked decorative, but he had seen the heaviness in her movements which was enough to be able to understand that they were not simple ugly bracelets.

"I'm going out training in the mountains, old man. I'll be back by night fall." Sen smiled at him. Miura knew the girl had gotten a bit better, but last night she had seemed to have a conversation with her sword. The old man frowned as he questioned her sanity silently.

"Wait. You're going to build a close relationship with regret with those weights - they will pull your arm out of your socket. It'll rip open your wounds, and they've just healed." He reprimanded the pinkette and poked on the heavy bracelets. Sen only smiled reassuringly again.

"Not if I constantly channel chakra in my body." She grinned and threw around her arms, showing her still intact flexibility even though she wore weights of more than hundreds of kilos.

"Can you really do that? That ability is certainly above Jounin level." Miura commented. Something flashed in the girl's eyes, but it was gone in an instant.

"I can do it for a while, yes, and only in small amounts since my chakra pools are small. This leads to putting a strain on my body physically as well as mentally with the constant chakra flow, and lets my body get accustomed to the weights. Cycling chakra through my limbs augments their strength. When my chakra ends and I stop channeling it I will not be dragged down by the sudden feel of the weights; I will have gotten accustomed to them and my muscle tissue would have gotten stronger by then." Sen explained and ruffled her cotton candy hair.

"Good thinking. But it's hard channeling chakra continually and slowly dissipating it at the same time, I know it very well." Miura commented. It was then that Sen seemed to understand Miura was not just an civilian old man, and he grinned inwards at that.

"Yes, that's why I have been practicing it since my youthful training sessions with a taijutsu master a long time ago. I wouldn't have been able to keep up with him had I not used my chakra, strengthening my whole body."

"I see." Miura said and knacked on his cane. "As long as you don't reopen your wounds."

"I'm quite good with healing in my right hand, so I'll be fine." Sen nodded and made a thumbs up with her right hand. "And good job surviving to this age as a shinobi, old man." Sen blinked and then was gone in whirlwind.

Miura stood silently for a while in the door, sadness blurring his vision.

"Surviving is not always the best of things.", he muttered and slowly walked inside the cabin.

* * *

_The Man of Shadows, Shimura Danzo_

The work as Hokage was not like he had anticipated. It was duller than he had first thought. Mountains of _paperwork_, little things he had thought to be handled by lower administrators was handed to him. He could care less for the Academy's new curriculum. He could care less for the dispute between two smaller Clans that could escalate to a little feud. What he wanted... He wanted something else. He didn't want the political intrigues, he wanted respect. Fear. He wanted to rule so that none dared disobey him. And paperwork just didn't do that for him.

He couldn't handle Konoha like he did Root, he realised one day. There were too many feelings he couldn't step on, too many unpredictable factors that never existed in Root. In Root, he was the obvious commander. He was never questioned, his authority as clear and fearful as the burning sun in the sky. But as a Hokage, he actually received lesser respect. Two little snotty kids bumped into him on the road the day before yesterday, and they didn't even add '-sama' when they apologized to him. Just a petty 'sorry, new Hokage'.

However, he did enjoy other things. Him being the commander of ANBU made him able to submit a few Root operatives into the forces. He could always trust them to be loyal to him. He had almost complete control over the Council, since he had bribed more than half and they knew of his secret Root operatives and their capabilities. He always had one or two things to say to the ancient Clans - they would listen to the Hokage, plus he had a few favours they owed him which made him have the upper hand against most of the old Clans. They listened to him. Because he was the pillar Konoha was supported by.

Other matters, like the villages waging war against Suna - he couldn't care less for the lives that were to be lost and the destruction to come. The best outcome from that invasion would be for Suna to be weakened and then Danzo could pretend to help them with the intention of them becoming more than allies to Konoha - he would be their Hokage as well. And if Suna prevailed in the war against the Kirigakure and Iwagakure - Danzo knew that would leave them weakened back in their own villages. He could propose a treaty, or something of the like. Maybe he could kidnap someone of importance and connect other ties?

The possibilities were many. And he could thank the Haruno for it.

* * *

_The Fox Boy, Uzumaki Naruto_

Naruto wandered without any goal in mind around in the Hokage Tower. It was in the middle of the night and he didn't really know how he had gotten there. The day's training session with Sai and Kakashi had been intense, and had let his mind wander away and he could take a breath. But now he couldn't think straight. When his movements took over his being, evading, hitting, trashing - he was alright. Now he had nothing else to focus on but his own thoughts. And it was not a nice place nowadays, his mind. He had lost two teammates. And he hadn't been able to do anything about it.

He was a failure.

A light smell of antiseptic and saké brought him back from his mind's process and he noticed he had clenched his fists so hard his fingernails had broken the skin on his palms. His blond head jerked sideways when he heard a laughter he just couldn't have imagined. It couldn't be.

It was boisterous and deep and not feminine at all. In a movement, he crashed through the wall to where he smelled the scent he could recognise anywhere. In the rubble and splinters of the destroyed wall, he found himself in a library as he stumbled inside. As the dust settled, Naruto saw two women leisurely drinking tea at a table. They looked up at him and Naruto's heart stopped beating.

"Oh. Hello, brat." Tsunade said and sighed into her tea cup.

"What the fuck."

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hiya!

I kinda had this chapter finished already so I thought, why not just get it out there? :D

And there seems to be mixed feelings on the continuation of Transition amongst the reviewers. So I'd like to know three things from you guys!  
1\. What did you like about Transition?

2\. What did you dislike about Transition?

3\. How else would you have written it?

A big fat thanks to you guys that are still hanging around! Sometime in the future I might rewrite the whole shabam, but we'll see about that. I can't please everyone, I have noticed. So for now, I'll do as I like. Mehe.

Cheers!

fascalia


	18. Her Sinful Efflorescence

**Transition**

Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.

**Chapter 18**

Her Sinful Efflorescence

Through the Eyes of a Fox Boy, the God of Life and an Avenger

* * *

_The Powerful Alcoholi__c, S__enju Tsunade_

"It can't be - you're _dead_! Sakura _killed_ you!" Naruto's lower lip quivered and his eyes filled with tears. His hand twitched, as if he wanted to reach out and touch the Godaime.

"No, not really. Sit down and have some tea. I'll explain it to you," Tsunade said, her nut brown eyes soft. This wasn't supposed to happen, she thought to herself. But just as well. He had found out. How he had known she was in there, what with wearing chakra suppressant chains around her bulky chest, she didn't know. But this was Naruto - the most unpredictable ninja. He must have smelled her fart or something.

"What? Tsunade baa-chan... I thought you were dead! Everyone does! For fuck's sake-", Naruto's voice broke and he shook where he stood. And not for the first time, Tsunade could see the ostracised little boy in him. She wanted to hug him, really, but she had to sort this out. So the Kyuubi wouldn't take over because of his turbulent emotions.

"Here, here. Sakura only did what was necessary for the village." She soothed, her voice uncharacteristically soft.

"I don't understand! How could you -"

"Sit and drink some tea, Naruto. I will explain everything to you." Tsunade frowned and waved her manicured hand. Naruto trembled as he stood in front of his Hokage. When Naruto showed no signs of sitting down and drinking tea, Tsunade sighed.

"My death was staged, obviously," Tsunade said calmly, sipping her tea with closed eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me. Why the _fuck_ didn't you tell me?" Naruto roared, earning a disapproving look from Kitsune. The librarian didn't appreciate loud noises, Tsunade was well aware of. She had earned several bumps on her head left by heavy books the times her voice had escalated above library whispers.

Tsunade replied calmly, "To avoid accidentally getting the truth out," her eyes hardened as she added, "and obviously, you will not tell this to anyone."

"But -"

"No. Naruto, this is important. If your dream is to truly become Hokage of Konohagakure, then you must know sacrifice, the importance of information, the tactical outcome of your decisions. Do not be a child, Naruto. Act like the Hokage you strive to be." As the former Godaime finished her sentence, Naruto's blue eyes shone. He looked down to his hands, still balled into fists. He understood, somewhere in that easygoing yet so complex mind of his, that what she said was the truth.

"What is Sakura doing? She's... she's really hated, baa-chan. Everyone loved you - loves you and they think she killed you. I don't think anyone will ever look at Sakura the same again. I'm not... even sure I can -"

"Brat! Don't you see? Don't you see how much she has sacrificed for this village? For me? For _you_?" Tsunade shouted. "Don't you dare look at her differently. Don't you dare! When she comes back, because she will, you will treat her no differently. She's the same as Itachi, just as hated-"

"Itachi? That's Sasuke's brother... How are they the same?" Naruto asked sharply, focusing on Tsunade with an intensity reserved solely for his teammates.

"Oh - shit. I shouldn't have said that. Stupid, stupid..." Tsunade bit her lip, then grabbed the saké bottle standing tall next to her tea cup, and took a swig. She shouldn't have said it, but she wanted to tell him. He deserved it. And it had been like a heavy pressure on her chest, not just because of the chakra suppressant chains, but because it was harsh knowledge on Naruto's rogue teammate's family demise.

"Tsunade-sama. Tell me," Naruto demanded. Tsunade saw the future Hokage in those blue eyes as she swallowed the strong alcoholic beverage. She sighed and frowned, pinching the bridge of her nose, pretending to unwillingly let him know the bloodied truth.

"Well, since you already know I'm alive and all... You know that Itachi was the one who killed the Uchiha Clan and poured the word hatred into Sasuke's heart. The man Sasuke lived to kill was Uchiha Itachi. But that's not all there is to the story. Uchiha Itachi as a thirteen-year-old ANBU was ordered by Danzō and the Council to wipe out the whole of the Uchiha Clan. The Uchihas were conspiring against Konoha and planned a coup d'état, perhaps because the village treated them differently. The village was afraid of their eyes, therefore they kept them on a short leash, giving their Clan house to be on the outskirts of the village. Itachi was given two choices: die with his Clan, or kill his entire Clan with the exception of one person; survive and be hated. Itachi chose Sasuke to survive. Because he probably still loves him, his little brother. He still..." Tsunade said and sniffed. Naruto didn't breathe.

Tsunade could see the hurt swirl inside Naruto's chest. Stabbing, wrenching. Thinking, processing.

"Sasuke."

"Oh, fuck, this story always brings me to tears. Sakura..." Tsunade grumbled and wiped furiously at her cheek, where a tear had slipped from her eye.

"Sakura told you about it?" Naruto asked, blue eyes wide, tears starting to overflow again. But there was also a coldness in his eyes, and that coldness scared Tsunade. It was that small portion of hatred that existed in him. "She knew?"

"Y-yes." Tsunade stuttered and swallowed back bile in her throat. No, Naruto would never give in. She still had him tied to Konoha with love. She straightened up as Kitsune warily watched the Kyuubi container. "Sakura sneaked into the classified ANBU archives and found the report when she was looking through the Uchiha files one night. I would have scolded or punished her for doing this, breaching into a classified archive by using the transportation jutsu and my ID card - and looking through secrets of the Clans. I didn't, though, since I knew she needed the information to obtain her goal. I have to admit, I wasn't aware that section at the ANBU archives even existed. I had no idea, what with me being thrown in the position as Hokage without prior training or information on earlier activities. I think Hiruzen was aware of the mass murder order, at least later on, and he probably wasn't happy with Danzō nor the Council..."

"So Sakura knew? All along?" Naruto looked down on his feet, obviously hurt by the fact that she hadn't confided him this knowledge of Sasuke's past.

"Yes. She didn't tell you because it's still classified - and would you imagine the uproar if the truth came out in the wrong way? Suspicion against the Council, fear amongst the Clans. A riot against Konoha itself would arise." Tsunade calmly assessed, and Naruto nodded curtly. Then he looked up and his eyes clashed with hers.

"We need to - we need to clear his name. Get Itachi back. And oh fuck - we need to tell Sasuke-teme! Or he's going to kill his brother who was _ordered_ to slaughter his own clan - This is just fucked up! We need to -" Naruto started breathing hard and waved with his hands. Tsunade sighed and gently laid her palm on his head. This stopped his ramblings better than any hit would have, surprisingly.

"We'll make it right. Sakura's onto it." She smiled and ruffled his unruly blond locks. Finally touching him, her warm fingers caressing him. Her own little blonde delicate monster boy. "She's onto it."

Tsunade turned to the destroyed wall and wrinkled her nose.

"And you better fix that wall before I kick you outta here."

* * *

_The Old War Veteran in the Cabin, Kurotsuchi Miura_

"Stop scratching."

"It's itching."

"And it's bleeding and it's raw. You're going to get an infection if you continue like that." Miura looked at Sen's arm where her fingernails left pink trails. A few had broken skin. Little marks of blood surfaced and the girl looked at them. She stopped scratching, seemingly unwillingly, and clenched her fists.

"I can't help it, it's just so goddamn itchy." She growled, feline like as she shrugged off his hands. Miura retracted his wrinkly hand.

"You need to get out some energy." He decided. Her mind... Was it breaking? Scratching, inflicting pain and harm to herself. It only proved further he had to help her.

"Yeah, yeah." Sen muttered.

Miura brought his tea cup to his mouth and sipped the hot tea. Delicate bitterness flooded into his mouth.

"I think it's time for an evaluation of your skills," Miura said and watched the pinkette sitting by her sword, leaning against the wall, where she had taken to carefully cleaning it with a cloth. The blade seemed to glow in the early morning light from the window. She had stopped scratching, at least. Seeing her tending to her sword somewhat made him feel even less comfortable than her scratching her arms bloody, he realised, as he watched her green eyes slide across the blank blade's surface. There were so many emotions in her eyes as she looked at it, a mixture of fear and admiration. Miura felt a chill run through his spine. There was something about the sword...

"Sure, it's been too long since I trained anyway." Sen said and abruptly dragged Miura out of his discomforting thoughts.

"After breakfast, we're going to the glade then." He said gruffly and tried a weak smile. She didn't even look at him.

An hour later they sat in the same glade he had found her in. Miura had brought papers and a pen to write down and analyse Sen's current abilities and weaknesses, to thoroughly dissect focus of the day was to assess her abilities to the utmost detail. Since the day Sen found out Miura was a former high class shinobi of a far away village she had asked him to teach her all he knew. He had agreed, somewhat not very reluctantly.

She somehow gave him purpose for all the knowledge he possessed, and he knew his experiences would rot away with him in the old cabin if she hadn't laid bleeding in his path. And from what he knew of her in her short stay so far, her mind was not healthy but she was getting better. And she had most of the tools to absorb his techniques and knowledge.

Sen started out with warming up by walking on her hands while stretching, bending her legs over her face, stretching her other leg up towards the sky. Then quite amusedly she started running on her hands as she stretched her legs up in the air. Miura watched with a light raise of his eyebrow, surprised.

"Peculiar warming up method," he scoffed to himself.

When she had finished ten minutes later, she stood in front of him. Miura raised his pen in anticipation and she nodded in return.

"I'll start with my basic Academy style taijutsu."

After a while as he watched her train, he realised it as he saw her blank expression. The scratches on her arm were quite visible still. Her movements turned slightly more sharp as she concentrated. Violent thrusts, kicks, punches, all would leave nothing alive behind if hit. They were too accurate, as if she knew all of the vital parts of her invisible sparring partners.

"You miss the blood," he whispered. She didn't hear him.

When the evaluation was done three hours later, Sen lay sprawled on her back on the soft grassy ground and Miura sat with his back against a tree. The sun shone in shafts through the foliage of the tree and he felt the rough bark against his bony shoulders. Her heavy breathing filled the otherwise quiet glade and she swept her hand over her forehead, drying the sweat.

"I need to improve on my taijutsu, basically - right now, I make do with my own style, a perfected version of the Academy's general taijutsu techniques. My Genin teacher never taught me any style, and my later teacher only taught me evasion techniques and strength enhancement. I need to improve my stealth as well, my stamina has very short life span. I need to improve my genjutsu; it is child's play to dispel genjutsus, however, casting them is a different thing altogether," she paused for breath, and Miura listened in attentive amusement. "I have developed two genjutsu techniques, but they have only worked once. I call them the Rising of the Blood Moon and the Second Flicker. I need to perfect my kenjutsu, since my animal summoning, Suzaku, is too weak at the moment to teach me anymore of his fire style. I need to find my instincts and try out this improvisation thing. Not in battle of course, since I am a paper ninja after all. I need to invent some more poisons, and make more paralyzing gas…", Sen finished and looked at him with curious eyes. Miura smiled gently and gathered the three pages he had written in a map.

"Listen, Sen. Have you ever heard that shinobi must see what's underneath -"

"The underneath? Yeah. That was drilled into my mind by my team's teacher when I was a genin until I mumbled the words in my sleep."

"Then, did you truly listen to him?"

"Hn? Yes, of course I did. It is good advice."

"Why are you not following those words?"

"I am!" she exclaimed and turned towards him.

"Look here. Your strength is certainly above Jounin level in regard to your taijutsu, kenjutsu, genjutsu and strategic thinking. You have most useful techniques. However... You have forgotten one thing." Miura smirked and poked on her shoulder with his cane. Sen frowned and rolled away to lay on her stomach, defensively looking up at the old man.

"What? I checked everything, I -"

"Your mind's strength. Don't forego its importance. You have miniscule chakra pools, and that can be changed if you meditate long enough, with enough focus. The streams can be deepened. I also believe you need to scrutinise yourself, take a moment to deepen the relationship with your own mind. You need to realise who you truly are and reconnect with your dreams and passions."

"I don't have that kind of time, Kurotsuchi-san. Plus, meditation is not really my thing. I'm not that… patient." Sen smiled politely.

"Time is fluctuant, a feeble thing created by man. In the waterfalls of Mount Chikara there is no such thing as a ticking clock."

"Are you saying there is no time there?" She looked at him with disbelieving viridian eyes.

"I meditated in the falls of Chikara's tears for seven years. When I opened my eyes and watched the sun in the sky, I realised only seven days had gone by. The fact of the time I had spent in the waterfall was further strengthened when I went to buy supplies in the nearby village Itarakichi when I bought a newspaper, where I saw the date. Time is non-existent."

"How long have you stayed here, hermit? The birds must have pecked at your brain." The young woman smiled with furrowed pink eyebrows.

"See for yourself. Meditate for a day and I will come to get you by nightfall." Miura poked at her forehead with the cane again, and Sen angrily smacked it away.

"As I said, I don't have that kind of t -"

In a blur, he was behind her with a kunai pressed at her cheek. He felt her blood pulse faster through her veins.

"If you want to become strong, then sacrifice that time you do not have." He chuckled. "And you were just killed by an old man. Such waste of time, was it not?" He withdrew the kunai and he saw the burning of her eyes.

In a flicker of petals and wounded shinobi pride, she was gone from the glade. The old man sighed, flash stepped away from the glade, and went to pick up some wooden logs for the fireplace at the back of the cabin, in the little shelter he had built last spring. Winter was at his doorstep and he needed to keep warm during the colder nights that were to come. He didn't worry about Sen. She could take care of herself. Probably, Miura thought, trying to convince himself.

As the night fell upon the little cabin, Miura started his walk towards the waterfall at the edge of the Chikara mountain. It was a lovely transition between day and night. The old man looked up at the bleeding sky as the disappearing sun sighed its last luminescence on the clouds from the horizon, turning them into a fleshy nuance. As Miura trampled his way through the woods, unconsciously, instinctively avoiding breaking twigs. Walking as silent as a mouse, he could hear the soft roar of the waterfall.

As the roaring became louder, the sight of the impressive falls came into the old man's view. The sprinkle of mist reached his wrinkly skin, the cold water a reminder of the still-present snow on top of the mountain. Miura walked up to the shore of the little lake and he could see a figure in a blur, sitting on a huge rock directly underneath the waterfall, taking on the full amount of heavy falling water. Miura felt his lips lift into a light smile. She had listened to his suggestion. And she might have found internal peace, but that was all he could hope.

Sometimes, the best thing to do if your heart was in turmoil was to dig deep into yourself, Miura thought. To find you true will, the true want of the heart. To cleanse away the dirt, cleanse away doubt. Meditation was the strongest asset to an assassin.

Miura knew he couldn't simply rip her out of meditation. So he shuffled to the edge of the shore, little waves reached his feet. Lightly taking a step forward to the water, his feet landed on the water's surface. He took another and began his journey on water towards the waterfall. Water-walking near a raging waterfall tend to be a bit more difficult than most other river streams since the waters are more ever-changing and unpredictable. Miura's chakra in the sole of his feet, however, was in perfect synchronization with the malevolent waters. Miura took his time and walked slowly, enjoying the feel of the cold water underneath him, the roaring cry of the mountain's tears, the scent of seaweed and wet leaves. Then, he felt his skin prickle with hard falling drops of water. He opened his eyes and squinted, seeing the girl with pink hair sit so very still on the mountain rock. The waterfall was directly above her and Miura knew the tons of cold water hurt her body. But she seemed to have gotten used to it.

Miura jumped up on the rock and sat besides the cold girl with closed eyes. He knew she had become cold as ice, straight even into her bones, and the foreign warmth of his hand could make her snap. He turned to look at her face. It was the most peaceful expression she had ever shown him. Even when asleep, her expression had shown a fighting spirit like he'd never seen. But not now. There was no internal fight. There was no pain. Only stillness.

"Sen?" His old voice whispered in the roar of the waterfall, barely audible.

"**Sakura**." Her clear voice startled him since she had not opened her eyes. It rang, vibrating inside his eardrums. It was as if she had shouted, but she had said it quietly.

"My name is Sakura. That is who I am."

Miura only looked at the girl, feeling the natural energies surround her, as response to her confession. Sakura, that was her true name? It still rang in his ears, her voice echoing. It left such an impression on him he couldn't respond. Power surged through him.

He felt the sudden burst of her chakra gates opening, and they were nothing like they had been before. She was glowing with heat. She poured her life essence out and it seemed unstoppable, ever lasting. She had found the importance of knowing her true name, of who she was. All he could do was trying not to acknowledge the cold sweat on his back. It had taken him seventeen years of finding himself. She had done it within one day. She was frightening him.

What kind of monster was she?

* * *

_The Prodigy, Hyuuga Neji_

By taking up missions he found the pain to numb. He was exhausted to his core, but that was the only way. By training the sweet little devil-spawn Hanabi occasionally and jumping into different teams he could almost numb her out of his head. The annoying blabber of his temporary teammates kept his mind away from her. He had climbed the ranks without himself noticing and now he was called Taichou in every team he was assigned. He almost never rested, and relentlessly asked for another mission. They followed leads on the Akatsuki, they searched for Team Hebi and infiltrated different villages. But nothing they found lead him to her. It was like she had never existed. And every team he was assigned deemed useless. They were so-called Jounin, he scoffed. Their abilities weren't even close to Naruto's mindless tactics.

One late night he came home from a mission that had left more bodies on the ground than what had been anticipated. After reporting the mission details to Danzō-sama, he had been dismissed. Slumping down on his bed, Neji sighed. His muscles were sore and the wounds on his back made a painful reminder. He knew he had to check them up with a medic, but he didn't find it in himself to go to the hospital. His hollow heart didn't allow him to. Hospitals reminded him too much of her light scent of antiseptic.

A light knock on the window made him leap up from the bed and activate his Byakugan. What he saw behind the glass was no enemy however, so he relaxed his eyes, but not his defensive stance. The moon shone behind the masked figure, obscuring his face in shadows. The silver hair stood out and was smoothed down by a hand.

"Hatake Kakashi." He said and nodded curtly, politely, yet he knew it was on the brink to rudeness. But he was tired.

"Hello, Neji." The silver haired elder shinobi opened the window and jumped inside Neji's quarters.

"It is late. Why are you here?" Neji drawled and cocked his head.

"Right to the point, now are we." Hatake smiled with his one visible eye and Neji noticed the absence of the neon orange pocket book. It was unusual to have the full attention of Hatake, and it made Neji almost uncomfortable. "I'm here to propose a seat in my team, a leading role. Your recent upgrade to Taichou in every team you've been assigned has made you used to it and I believe your knowledge and skills will benefit us."

"The Retribution Task Force?" Neji asked, with the slightest hint of surprise in the rise of his eyebrow. Since Team Seven no longer existed.

"That's right. I want you in our ranks." Kakashi smiled. Hollowly, ghostly. As if it wasn't truly there. Neji recognised that pleasant grimace. He had seen it in his own reflection when he had tried to smile. He had decided it wasn't worth the effort.

"Your main purpose is to find Sak-the Haruno, right?" The prodigy restrained himself from biting his lip.

"Yes. We will bring her back so she can pay for her crime. For betraying us. For defecting. And foremost for killing Tsunade." Kakashi's expression turned grim and something similar to hate flared hot in his dark eye. As if he couldn't help himself from showing it.

"I know...", Neji mumbled.

"I heard you encountered her with Team Ten a couple of weeks back. I want you to tell me everything that happened, and how she succeeded in defeating you all. To every last minimal detail."

Neji hindered himself from displaying anger at Hatake's obvious show of pity and disdain at their loss. He shrugged instead.

"I can tell you everything I know, of course. But I need... to think about the proposition."

"That's alright. Just don't make me wait too long. Come by the Headquarters tomorrow morning. And you should get those wounds looked at." Hatake finished and nodded with an empty smile. He withdrew and was gone in a flicker from Neji's room.

Neji stood still and looked out the window. The moon peaked out from a large grey cloud, then disappeared in the smoky substance. The stars were nonexistent this night.

* * *

_The Man of Shadows, Shimura Danzō_

He was a simple man. He liked things orderly and clean, and he enjoyed his tea in the early morning at the Hokage's office. He always arrived one hour before the staff at five o'clock in the morning. During that hour he had time to look through yesterday's reports from Root and assemble missions accordingly. He sipped the tea from his plain tea cup. There were no decorations on the ceramic mug, no stylish touches, it was only dull and grey. But the white tea of Tang flooded his mouth and covered it in bitterness and renewed strength. As his now everyday procedure after he was done signing and filing his underground organisation's files, he went to the library. After a few codewords, a jutsu that let him see the door, three different keys, he was allowed inside the murky library.

He found a busty blond woman therein, sitting at the round table in the middle of the surrounding shelves, looking through the reports he had given her the day before. They had come into some kind of agreement and they discussed the different tasks the Hokage work had baffled him with. The boisterous woman looked up at him as he approached and she nodded curtly. Her blond hair was unusually pinned up into a bun and she looked tired, with dark circles underneath her eyes. She seemed to hate the isolation.

"I received a message from her during the night." Tsunade said, straight to the point. She flipped a loose hair strand away from her delicate features.

"Are there any problems?" Danzō asked and sat down in front of her at the table. The librarian showed up behind him and offered tea to the two of them. It was a red tea and Danzō didn't hide the wrinkle of his nose.

The woman serving the tea ignored his facial dismissal and put a steaming ceramic cup in front of him.

"She met with Uchiha Sasuke. He succeeded in taking two of her summons, the dragon Seiryu and the tiger Byakko." Tsunade sighed.

"That was unfortunate." Danzō nodded, his expression emotionless as always. "Any damage done to her?"

"Yes. She is currently recuperating in a old cabin down south, at the Chikara mountain. The loss was hard on her other summons, since they had known each other for a long time."

"Hm. She cannot stay for too long. She needs to start making herself noticeable. Taking down a few missing nin won't impress them." Danzō said and his gaze slithered to the former Godaime's manicured yet recently bit down fingernails, her hands clenching the ceramic cup at her notice of his attention.

"I'm well aware, and so is she. She will head to the village of Itarakichi and wreck some havoc the day after tomorrow after she takes up the mission of a bodyguard to the village Elder Takehiko. He is under the impression some of the Clans in the village are after his head. He is a man of natural paranoia, so it was easy to let him know there was supposedly reason to it."

"Good."

As he stood up from the chair, he stopped when Tsunade raised a finger.

"One thing. It has come to my attention that… Why have you recently visited the Academy so regularly? It isn't in the Hokage protocol. Are you planning on upgrading the Academy's curriculum... Or is it something else?" Tsunade's eyes had hardened, her hazel brown eyes catching him. Danzō cocked his bandaged head to the side, watching her for one moment.

"I care for the children's growth. Is there anything wrong with that?" Danzō said then and gave her a sweet smile that sent shivers through the attending librarians body, and then he walked out. The unused muscles in his face strained. Smiling was unnecessary and discomforting. But necessary for no further questions from that loud woman. How had she noticed? She was stuck inside the library. She had to have someone on the outside, watching him.

Danzō realised he had to be more conspicuous from now on. His plan could not be compromised.

* * *

_The Avenger, Uchiha Sasuke_

He had stopped pitying himself ages ago now. Inside his cage of flames, Sasuke found his rage burning brighter than the fire consuming his flesh. Rage against Izanagi, that lying God who now ruled his body. Sasuke was only slightly aware of the outside world, sometimes catching glimpses of what Izanagi was doing. Watching the moon, conversing with Suigetsu, drinking tea, watching. He was almost always watching, observing. And Sasuke grew angrier.

Mostly, Izanagi watched with interest the poverty stricken parts of the villages they went through. The war ravaged parts. The hollow eyes of beggars on the corner to a grocery stand. The drunken mercenaries outside of a bar. The little child with a large bruise covering half his face, walking limply through the street with a loaf of bread in his arms, clutching it tightly. A filthy and scab covered homeless dog, breathing shallowly on the ground in the burning sun, its ribs protruding and there were wounds infected at its head. Its eyes were swindling, large and brown and broken. A beautiful woman calling for him from a window to a brothel, trying to hide the cough that would be her death.

Sasuke couldn't do anything, and that was what angered him the most. Not that he had been fooled to Merge and offer his body to a long forgotten God. Not that he was burning. Not that his body moved without his command. But that he was helpless. It was a new sensation to him.

No, not new. He had felt it once before. When he had stared at his mother's and father's corpse.

His breath hitched. The onyx eyes reflected the dancing flames and he wrinkled his face into an unhidden grimace of wrath. He decided then, without sanity in his mind, what he was going to do. And he would enjoy it, every last part of it. The feel of his thick blood on his fingers, trailing down his skin.

He was going to kill a God.

* * *

The God of Light, Izanagi - currently residing within the Avenger Uchiha Sasuke

Izanagi stopped in his tracks. The shared mind with the boy confused him, since a few of his memories were so powerful that they overruled him sometimes, but mostly they amused him. And Izanagi recognized the feeling. He couldn't fight the memory, so he decided to simply enjoy a peek at the boy's more powerful recollection of his past. He let his hand touch the hilt of the katana, his former prison.

A light memory slipped past him. It caught him unprepared, shining so brightly he almost needed to catch his breath. Darkness. Someone was laughing loudly, madly, revelling in blood. Breaking one arm, two arms. Was it him? He laughed again. He didn't care. He felt powerful. He could do anything. He could hurt those who raised their fists against him. Strength surrounded his eyes, blotches of red covered his vision, buzzing and vibrating. Someone called for him, but he didn't care. His enemy laid in front of him; all he needed to do was finish it. Blow out the fire. Show the world he was made of more than flesh and bones.

"Sasuke!"

Warmth against his back, fingers delicately gripping around him. Not in a hurtful way. Warmth. He felt her breath against his neck. His senses slowly crept back. He was in a forest, the grassy scent reaching his nose. And a metallic scent. And a scent of fear. He slowly turned back to see who had brought him such warmth, who had touched him so lovingly. But when he saw her, her face was blank. Who was she? Blackness covered his vision and pain seared through his body from his neck. And then there was nothing.

Izanagi opened his eyes and realised something dripped from his cheek. He scoffed. The mortal body of his was so fragile, so emotional even though the boy suppressed his feelings.

Izanagi had hungrily studied the world. And his vision had clouded with deep disappointment. In its current form it was a disaster. Humans were selfish creatures, shallow and dirty. Humans were the failure of the evolution he had once started. They were slowly destroying the Earth, destroying themselves. He felt no pity for them.

It was time for him to contact the Priest. It was time for the world to change.

* * *

The Old War Veteran in the Cabin, Kurotsuchi Miura

"I can give you my makimono collection of jutsus. I can teach you the Cloak technique. I can teach you Nightshade. I can teach you Stealth Step and Mouse Step. But I can't teach you which path to take."

In her kneeling position of seiza, she nodded.

"We'll start training tomorrow. Sleep well."

"I will." Sakura nodded and rose, then flashed away to her room.

Since last night, Miura had seen a drastic change in the girl. She was calmer. Her eyes had become a darker, moss green shade and her shoulders weren't rigid as she went to her sleeping quarters.

Sakura. That was her name. Miura thought he somehow recognized the name, but he couldn't place it. Pink flashed in front of his retina. During his time in his old village he had seen a little girl on the street with pink hair. He recalled the occasion now, since the name rang quiet familiarly in his ears. Someone had called for her, a woman. Sakura-chan. The little girl had turned around and bumped into him, whispered she was sorry and covered her hand over her forehead, and then ran to her mother. A few girls had laughed behind her as she scuffled away and Miura hadn't thought more about it.

But there was a possibility. Could it be... That Sakura belonged to Konohagakure?

* * *

_The Fox Boy, Uzumaki Naruto_

If anything, the boy with a fox sealed inside him, was not one to idly sit by when important stuff happened. For a while he had almost forgotten his goal, his goal since childhood - to become the Hokage of Konoha. In order to become it, he realised when he had met a very alive Tsunade, was to work for it. And not just physically. Not just physically tearing walls apart, not just physically making everyone listen to him, not just physically saving the village.

Sakura-chan was fighting her own war in some kind of conspiracy. Sasuke-teme was fighting an internal one. Naruto had to fight too. That was simply who he was - he would never leave his teammates alone to deal with their issues on their own. And he knew that if he became Hokage, he would have all the power to do so. By himself he was strong, _dattebayo_. He had the Rasengan, he had the Kage Bunshins and he... kind of had Kurama's power. Kurama-chi he was working on, since he was all bitchy and hate-filled for humans still. Naruto didn't just want Kurama's power, he wanted the fox to realise there were more to humans than what he thought.

But Naruto knew it wouldn't be enough with his own strength alone. With his troublesome teammates, he had to become Hokage. With that power, political power and in soldier wise strength, he would be influential and people would finally listen to him.

Plus, he was getting annoyed with Danzō. Being the bandaged bastard he was, the Hokage work seemed to bore him and he left most of the paper work to an exhausted Shizune with a team of newly recruited administrators from his shady organization. Lately the bandaged bastard had taken to visiting the Academy a lot. It didn't really disturb Naruto, but he didn't like the looks Danzō gave the children when the Kyuubi container visited Iruka once a week. That look, it was filled with interest. When Naruto noticed it, it had left a dry taste in his mouth. He didn't know why. He had told Tsunade of it, in case it was something weird.

Naruto sighed over the dusty old scroll Tsunade had given him of Konoha's old politics. The dust whirled away and some of it came menacingly into his nose. He sneezed violently.

The library was, in all truth, a hateful hellhole.

With words everywhere and mind-wrecking sentences, he could puke all over the place. But then that Kitsune woman would chomp on his head, he was sure of it. That librarian did love her books and she would fight to her death for them.

Naruto sneaked a glance at the scary librarian at the end of the table who noticed his glare, and glared right back at him with her blank grey eyes looking over her glasses that had fallen a bit down the bridge of her straight nose. Naruto felt the compulsion to stick his tongue out at the dusty librarian, but he didn't. He was too scared of getting his head chomped off. Those teeth of her were eerily similar to Kurama's.

**Focus, brat.**

_Uhmph._ Naruto responded to the monster in his belly, who had decided to make his life even more hateful by observing his battle with the scroll. _I hate this scroll. Can't we just burn it? And free the words._

**I'd happily burn this village down to the ground as well, but do I get my way? No. So, go on and read about Hashirama's reign. Maybe he will inspire you to think for once, brat.**

_Dirty. That's dirty, Kurama-chan._

**What did I tell you about using that suffix? The fox growled, making the bars in the cage vibrate.**

_That you will eat your way out of my stomach and gouge my eyes out, yes, yes, I know. It's getting old now though. You could be a bit more creative in threatening me Kurama-chan._

**You don't want me getting creative in that department, boy. Now, what did Hashirama decide to do about the economic crisis in regard to the bad harvest combined with a blockage from Kirigakure's trade of rice and fish?**

_You're killing me slowly, Kurama-chan. Oh, wait, didn't he establish a neutral section of old economic dudes who set new rules for loans and that inflation stuff? That section which later became Konoha's City bank. And then old man Hashirama called for a meeting about the blockage and threatened Kirigakure's Daimyo that Konoha would no longer provide its services to them until the trade was once on track again._

**Correct. Another use of words mayhaps, but all the same, correct. Now, next paragraph.**

_I need to pee._

**No, you don't. You went just ten minutes ago. Hell, are you aware that you're the most childish man who has ever aspired to become Hokage?**

_You're just jelly, Kurama. I'll become the most awesome Hokage Konoha has ever seen!_

**Screw burning Konoha to the ground, you'll make even worse by yourself as Hokage. You'll be Konoha's downfall. I'm going to sleep now.**

_You just said I'll become Hokage! See, you trust me. Now, mind hug! Come let me love you-_

**I will eat you.**

_Nah, I'm too sweet for you, Kurama-chi. You like things bitter._

* * *

_The Old War Veteran in the Cabin, Kurotsuchi Miura_

In the early morning they stood in front of each other on the little lake. The water swirled underneath their feet with the diminishing force from the waterfalls a few kilometers away, and Miura drew his blindingly normal and plain-looking weapon from the scabbard strapped diagonally on his back.

"A chokutō?" The girl raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? You know its name?" The old man chuckled. "Not many do nowadays."

"Those chokutōs are not really handy, though. Its blade is straight and it doesn't have a curve, and it's only one-edged. They aren't useless really, but curved blades are more lethal." She said and drew her own sword. The light reflected in its blade and blinded Miura for one second. He blinked.

"Ma, don't talk like that about Musashi. She's still as sharp." Miura smirked. "Enough talking, more sword clashing."

"One thing, Miura-san. If my eyes turns white, run."

"What?"

Sakura's sword came down hard on Musashi's blade as the old man protected his chest, and Miura felt his chest flutter. It had been a long time since he had clashed swords and he felt happiness spread through his muscles.

"This is Nightshade." Miura whispered as he jolted towards her with his sword held at his side, sprinting fast. Sakura widened her eyes and watched carefully, gripping her sword harder. Then Miura whispered the jutsu without having to make the seals.

He felt half of his face coil and his vision turned dark. The flesh moved, changed. Sakura gasped. His body filled with chakra and his skin crawled. Then his whole body jolted with electricity from his jutsu and he knew it was complete.

"What-", Sakura shouted and her eyes went everywhere but on Miura. In the reflection of her eyes, he was gone. The old man smiled and swung Musashi at Sakura who had become part of the Nightshade jutsu. The whistling sound of the chokutō made Sakura look in his direction and he could see her instincts take over. In an instant she fell through the surface of the water and succeeded in avoiding getting her torso cut in half by Musashi. The water sloshed at his chakra laden feet, and the currents of her disappearance into the deep murky water made a little ring pattern.

Miura almost laughed, but he didn't. She said she wasn't intuitive? He waited for her to emerge from the water, but nothing gave away where she was since the waters were dark.

Suddenly, he felt a hand grip his feet from underneath and he was dragged down with the force of a snake gripping its prey. He gulped air before he was swallowed by the water. The coldness hit him hard and he opened his eyes in the water to see a blurry Sakura under him, confusion visible in her light green eyes as she swam steadily in one spot. Bubbles from her nose reached his form and slid along the fabric of his worn haori to reach the surface.

That lit a spark in the viridian pools of her eyes and she dragged him down further, slashing at him with her katana. He met her fluently with Musashi, bemused she could pinpoint his location even though she couldn't see him and use that much force in her strike underneath water. He kicked her hand away and swam up to the surface, jumping out of the coldness. He sputtered out water, then he saw her emerge. She dripped with water soaking her whole body and her expression was priceless.

"How... How can I fight you if I can't see you?" She asked thin air. Miura smirked. He wondered how long of this fight it would take her to evolve.

Sprinting towards her, she didn't react in time. Musashi grazed her side with a feather light touch and she bit back a shout, jumping back and holding her side. Blood started seeping shallowly from the light cut. But he wouldn't let her rest.

He went after her and Sen's eyes became frenzied, scared. He had expected a similar reaction, but he had never seen that kind of expression on her face before.

"Miura-san?" She croaked as she jumped further away, unconsciously avoiding Musashi biting her leg. It seemed her senses were on edge, and she looked hastily around. Miura almost felt that he needed to say something, but he bit it down. This was the harsh training she had asked for.

Like a rat trapped in a corner, she became still. Her breathing escalated and she closed her eyes, her body almost vibrating. Miura took a step on the water and Sakura blindly backed away. He raised Musashi and ran towards her, quietly. But Sakura still had her eyes closed. As Musashi reached her shoulder, almost touching her skin, she squealed and raised her katana instinctively. The swords clashed fiercely and Sakura was pushed back by the force of it.

She had realised it, Miura sighed in relief in his mind. She had to trust all of her senses except her vision.

Hearing, tasting, smelling, feeling. And instinct. Those were the sense she had to focus on, and she did. Sakura sniffed and stepped forward, rolling down on the water as if it was solid and at the same time as Miura reacted with a slash of his sword, and she thrusted her katana towards his feet. Miura jumped over her, avoiding the thrust that would have embedded her sword into his ankle, and spiralled through the air.

They continued to fight and Sakura continued to keep her eyes closed until the sun bled its last rays into the sky. They weren't even, since Sakura couldn't attack him and barely avoided Musashi's sharp blade. All she could do was almost counter. Miura came to realise he had become tired and the technique he used was very taxing and he couldn't hold it for as long as he could have when he was twenty five. In one swift movement, he appeared behind the pinkette and let Musashi rest on her neck. She stopped moving. The sharp blade cut shallowly into her neck.

"And you're dead." Miura said and disabled the technique. He felt the tiredness settle in his body, making every twitch of a muscle feel as heavy as a stone weighing him down. The adrenaline left his body as the technique drained from his being. He lowered his sword and sheathed it into the scabbard on his back. Sakura turned around and opened her eyes. They were pale green, eerily much a shade lighter than usual. Miura wondered if she had a blood line, but shook off the thought of it. He had never heard of white eyes except for the Hyuuga Clan's kekkei genkai, and she had none of the traits a Hyuuga had.

"Nightshade is an illusion combined with physical chakra alteration where I turn myself invisible." Miura nodded tiredly and it seemed he had confirmed her suspicions with his statement. Sakura looked intensly at him, as if he was going to vanish at a moment's notice.

"I saw your footprints on the surface of the water when I was underneath. I wouldn't have seen you otherwise, in the beginning. But then I felt you. Not your heartbeat or your breathing, because you used Mouse Step and Silence of the Heart. But I felt... The vibrations in the air as your sword cut through the wind." She said and breathed deeply. The cuts had dried on her skin, the crisp blood a darker crimson nuance. It was then that Miura realised how badly hurt she was. She was as pale as a ghost.

"You have lost too much blood. Let's head back to the cabin."

"No, I'm fine. Teach me the technique, please. I need to know how it functions, the body's chakra distribution-"

"You're not invincible only because you know your true name now, Sakura-san. You need to rest. As do I."

"But-"

"No. Tomorrow, maybe. If you don't look like a corpse and have regained some colour to your cheeks, I'll teach you the hand signs and correct chakra distribution."

"Fine." Sakura sighed and frowned. When she took a step towards the shore, she staggered. Miura was old and tired, but he wouldn't let her fall.

When Sakura staggered again and fell towards the water, Miura took a steady hold of her.

"I'm okay, it's-", Sakura tried to tell him off weakly but then her eyes swam and she fell unconscious. Miura sighed and gathered her into a bridal style lift. He walked strongly all the way to the cabin carrying the limp girl and put the pinkette into her guest bed. Miura slowly and throughly cleaned her wounds, bandaged them and then he slumped on his wooden chair beside the fireplace. His old bones pained him and he gnashed his teeth. As he was about to fall into a slumber, something caught his eye.

It was her katana. It disturbed him and yet... It seemed to invite him. He had put her katana at the feet of her bed and it almost seemed to glow in the dark. He felt a sudden urge to touch it. Feel the weight of it in his hand. See the blade shine from the dancing flames at the fireplace. Hear the soft and metallic sound of it being freed from the scabbard. Without caring about his tired body protesting the movement, he rose and walked up to the end of the bed. Slowly, he reached for the sword, without really even knowing what he was doing.

And when he touched the handle, he fell down and everything was consumed by darkness. He blinked but he couldn't see. Why was everything so heavy? He wondered, as he felt as if he had been drugged, his head pounding. His heartbeat escalated and he was afraid. Inside the maze of darkness, a pale shape appeared in front of him.

"_Priest_."

A voice echoed inside his mind and he saw a beautiful black-haired woman emerge from the nothingness, hovering in the air surrounded by swirling grey smoke. Her pale heart shaped face was fully turned towards him and her eyes caught him in her coldness. Her white kimono seemed to give off the same fragrance as the moon and she smelled like rotten flowers.

"Izanami-sama." Miura breathed and he simply couldn't believe he had been this lucky. It must have been fate leading Sakura to him. And ultimately to the _Goddess of Death_.

* * *

_The Cloud Watching Boy, Nara Shikamaru_

Shikamaru had somehow been dragged away from his peaceful cloud watching to hectic missions with Chouji and Ino. Without giving it much thought, he was successful in every mission. Ino seemed happy but Shikamaru knew she was still devastated. Her work at the hospital had become more serious now and she had her hands full, but she still made time for their team to go out eating and taking up missions. Shikamaru however enjoyed spending time with Chouji. He was always calm and ate his snacks without asking how Shikamaru was doing, and the Nara was grateful for that.

Ino told him that Neji had joined the RTF. Shikamaru knew Hatake needed the Hyuuga prodigy, not only because he knew Sakura well, but because of his abilities. Shikamaru ruffled his hair which was let down for once, and he wrote down the last words of their mission report. Neji would do well. They had talked about Sakura a few weeks ago, and they had agreed that something was wrong with the whole thing. They knew her. That was why Shikamaru suspected she had been set up and fled the village since all the evidence was against her.

The Nara finished up the mission report and stood up, walked out on the veranda and fished up his pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

Asuma-sensei was dead. Shikamaru blew out the smoke through his nose, hating the feel of the toxins in his lungs. But the smell soothed him. The heaviness settled on his shoulders and he felt as if the world acted against him.

Akatsuki was not only troublesome. They were the first thing in Shikamaru's life of whom he truly hated. There were no words awful enough to describe them. Darkness laid a filter covering his vision, the light diminishing and the colors changed. It was eery how hatred could change one's vision of the world, Shikamaru thought.

He had to do something. He let the cigarette fall to the ground and squished it with his foot, then he sharply turned to face the Hokage Tower which was a little distance away, and yet it was so visible amongst the roof tops of the village, standing out so proudly. He was paying Hokage Danzō a little visit about the issue. With the mission report in his hand, he jumped up on the roof tops and sprinted through the still night.

Danzō needed him. Shikamaru's intelligence and his ability to plan and strategize was necessary, and Danzō would see that. Shikamaru let out a heavy breath. And since he had accepted T&amp;I's offer of joining their section fourteen days ago, he had the authority to lead a team.

* * *

The Old War Veteran in the Cabin, Kurotsuchi Miura

"Sakura."

She snapped her head his way, and the hawk which perched on her arm flew away into the early morning at the mention of the pinkette's name. Miura watched the predator bird fly in the air with steely determination, heading north-east. It was, without a doubt, a messenger hawk.

"Good morn', Kurotsuchi-san." She smiled sweetly. "I didn't know you were up."

"I heard you sneak away, since you haven't fully mastered Mouse Step yet. I thought you were going to exercise." He cocked his head, questioningly.

"I am. Would you like to join in?" She asked as she flexed her muscles. Miura looked up into the sky and noted the absence of the hawk. It was fast, more so than other normal hawks. Only specialised hawk messengers had top speed. That urgent? He wondered.

"Am I allowed to know what message you wrote to send away on that hawk?" Miura asked blatantly.

"No." Sakura shook her head, her petal hued bangs covering her eyes momentarily. "If you knew, you would compromise my mission."

"I see. You would have to kill me." Miura nodded. Ice formed in his stomach. Her mission must have top priority, in that case.

"Yes." She said blankly. "And that would be unfortunate."

"Truly." Miura smiled. "If your mission is that important, what are you doing here with an old man like me?"

"I needed to stay low for a while. And I needed to... Recuperate, as well. I was recently betrayed by two summons who were close to me. And a man I have chased for years proved to have become darker than what I anticipated..." She looked down. She confided in him, and Miura found himself biting down a shiver. He knew it wasn't because she trusted him, but because she was lonely.

"I see. Will you be leaving soon?"

"Yes. I have to." Sakura nodded, shook away the emotions in her eyes. "I will never forget your kindness, Miura-san." She looked him straight in the eye and he understood the importance in her words.

"You have proved to me that there are still selfless people out there. That there are people who will take care of strangers. Provide food, knowledge and strength. I will never be able to thank you enough."

"Now, now. You sound too sentimental, Sakura. Anyone would have done what I did. And there are selfish reasons. I wanted to pass down my techniques to you since I have no offspring of my own. You'll continue the practice of my Clan and my own developed techniques. That in a sense is a selfish thing to wish for." Miura said and tapped her shoulder with his cane, then left it to rest there lightly. Sakura let her fingers touch it, and she smiled. Genuinely. It shocked Miura to see it that much he almost dropped the cane.

It was the first time he had considered her to be beautiful. It wasn't one of her practiced smiles where she knew the right muscles to activate, and to come off as true and friendly. It had confused him first, but with his experience in the field of deception he had recognised it. Not in her expression, but in her eyes. And now, her face almost came off as soft. Her eyes were calm and warm. Her genuine smile made her nose wrinkle slightly, and it was adorable.

"Those are some heavy words." He commented and took away his cane from her shoulder. Sakura fidgeted.

"It's just... I am scared, Miura. I feel like... There is no value to my existence. I feel useless. That's why I need to- I have to prove myself. I have to prove myself worthy. Not just to stand proudly and without doubt beside my comrades, but to myself. For my own sake, I need to know there is a reason to my existence. That everything is not pointless. That there is a reason for every heartbeat."

"Is that why you have devoted yourself to your village, to your mission? To prove yourself?"

"Partly, yes, that is the reason. The other reason is a desire... To solve things. It's in my nature, I can't control it. In the Academy, when we had tests, I almost always knew the answer to every problem. I had a solution. And if I didn't, I'd cry myself to sleep over it. It's an overwhelming desire to have the answer to every question, the right equation to every issue. Because, back then, my knowledge and ability to answer any question was my worth." Sakura said and Miura understood. Her intelligence was her greatest asset and if it was questioned, what was left of her? The pinkette looked over her shoulder and her gaze turned blank. As if she didn't see the beautiful sun emerging from the horizon.

"When I was assigned to my team as a Genin, I hated it. One of my teammates was a troublemaker and I couldn't handle him. The other one was a, uh, love interest. I cherished him as a child would. He was cool, handsome and dark. I could stop listening to the lectures at the Academy only to admire his beautiful profile. But he was difficult. I did everything I could to solve the problem of him not noticing me. Not acknowledging me. No matter how much lip gloss I wore, no matter how perfect my hair was, he never looked at me. It was a difficult time for me. But near the end, I felt like I could solve things. It became lighter, our team got together somehow and I was- I was filled with happiness. At that point, everything fell apart. And he... He left. Without even giving me the time to solve things. I was devastated. And lonely. The troublemaker left later as well, and I realised I missed him."

"What did you do then?", Miura wondered.

"I wanted to solve the first issue closest to myself, I broke every problem down and prioritized, and that was my loneliness. But... When I realised the loneliness wasn't the largest problem because it was selfish and did no one any good, I made a list. Because that's the kind of person I am, I need structure and a definite set of words and problems on a paper. I made a list of impossible goals... And I decided to solve all of them. And in order to do that, I had to change. I had to change the equation that would decide the fate for the ones I cared about."


	19. The Truth of a Betrayal

**Transition**

Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.

**Chapter 19**

The Truth of a Betrayal

Through the Eyes of an Old War Veteran, the God of Life and a Man with a Name

* * *

_The Goddess of Death, Izanami_

"What do you want?" Izanami seethed as the girl appeared inside her maze of shadows.

"Sorry for disturbing you, Izanami-sama. But... You have been unusually quiet. You haven't called for blood in a while." Sakura stated, her viridian eyes calm as she stared at the imprisoned Goddess. "What are you up to?"

"Impetuous girl. Go back to training." The Goddess tiredly commanded the pinkette and she glared at her icily.

"Tell me." Sakura asked, no, demanded. Izanami raised an eyebrow. When had she become this disrespectful?

"You seem to have forgotten your place. Ordering me to to talk? Seems like the last dream session in the fires yesterday didn't do enough for you?" Izanami smiled with coldness in her eyes.

"It was hot." Sakura frowned at the recollection. It seemed still vivid to her.

"I can make it hotter next time, trust me. Go back, leave."

"Yes, Izanami-sama." Sakura gave in reluctantly, but all the same she bowed respectfully and disappeared from the void, back to the real world. The girl had become stronger, Izanami absentmindedly thought.

The Goddess of Darkness sighed and draped her white kimono over her bare leg. She decided to remember that time and let the void drain from her mindscape. The scenario in her mind changed, wobbled and disfigured, and in an instant all was clear. Her memory of the palace in the sky filled her with regret, but she had to remember. The soft creamy clouds shifted and lazily drifted underneath her. Stars above her blinked lustily, seducing her. The beautiful palace stood proudly beside her and the marble pillars reached further into the sky. But what made her heart freeze and burn at the same time once more was a man in front of her.

The man walked towards her. Silently, his robes swirled in the light breeze. His long onyx hair fell like a waterfall down his shoulders, his back. His smile could destroy worlds.

"What about some light?" He asked her. "Only our presence shines on the world. Why not have another source of light to make your face more visible? So everyone can gaze upon your beauty."

Izanami let the memory play and she answered in the same voice she once had.

"Your presence is enough to make my heart flutter. What other light do I need?" She whispered and her hand touched his cheek lovingly.

"I believe the humans are cold. They need light as much as I need you, love." Izanami whispered in her ear, letting his lips touch her lightly. She shivered.

"Then make them warm." Izanami breathed.

Izanagi stepped away from her and smiled. He turned his hand so the palm faced up above his head and his energy gathered, surging through the world.

A gush of wind and a rushing wall of heat made Izanami catch her breath and her eyes were blinded. Izanagi laughed and cast the source of light out onto the sky, out and away, further. The heat brushed on her face, stinging and hot. The world changed, shadows were created and Izanami fell in love again.

She took a step forward to the man who had his back on her, as he watched the ball of light shine down on the humans and they saw how life would be created because of it.

There would be cycles of life. There would be things called plants to feed the hungry and there would be fresh water to fall from the sky. Izanami let her hands embrace the back of the man she loved, and he touched her fingers gently and glanced over his shoulder at her. She sniffed and his fragrance filled her with comfort.

"What will you call it?" She had asked into the thin fabric of his kimono.

"The Sun. It will be the reflection of the Moon you created." He had answered and turned around, his oh so soft lips had met hers and she had melted in his arms.

They had made love. And Izanami knew she was going to bear another child.

At that point, Izanami abruptly shut off the memory. She switched back to her black void and growled. She had been impregnated then and when she was giving birth to her child of flames, she had died.

She didn't want to remember anymore. But she had to. The Priest had contacted her and there was a chance she would become whole again. And she would finally be able to destroy the world. But lately... That desire of hers had stalled. Not disappeared, not at all, but it had been... Put on ice. She felt the need to discover. She wanted to roam the forest. She wanted to enjoy human made tea. She wanted to watch birds fly in flocks above her head. She wanted to feel her hair between her fingers as she smoothed it down. She wanted to feel the touch of -

She realised she was jealous of Sakura, for being free. Izanami grit her teeth and snapped her head back, absorbing her wild thoughts into a light spectre which shot off from her eyes, and then she crushed it. There would only be blood, and nothing more.

* * *

_The Old War Veteran in the Cabin, Kurotsuchi Miura_

He knew she would leave soon. Discovering that the girl carried the sword that hid the goddess Izanami imprisoned inside its blade could be nothing short of fate. It all came together. His plan would start its mechanisms, the cog wheels clicking into each other, the beginning of everything. All he had to do was one thing left before he could fulfil the promise he had made to his wife on her deathbed. The promise of a lifetime.

A commemoration of his wife of sorts were to happen soon and it was the perfect opportunity. Sakura sat in front of him and ate her breakfast quietly. He cleared his throat and caught her green eyed attention.

"There will be an occult festival the day after tomorrow at the village down in the valley, it's called the Festival of the Forgotten Gods. I usually attend it every three years. I stand for the main attraction called the Dance of the Sun, a theatrical piece with music as guidance throughout the story. Though I dance for the place of two people nowadays, since my wife... Would you mind being my dancing partner?"

Sakura almost sneered at the mention of 'dancing partner', but she seemed to think better of it. The old man's eyes glittered and it seemed she couldn't deny him.

"I can do that, as a show of my gratitude for you training me and letting me stay. But... I-I can't dance." She admitted and splayed her hands in front of her in a helpless gesture, still munching on her tomato.

"Then all is well. The concept of dancing for a shinobi is not such a hassle as you might think. Shinobi only dance with a different kind of music in mind. We should start practicing after lunch."

"Sure." The pinkette said and shrugged.

"Oh, and take your sword with you." Miura drawled and rose from the table. He saw her still, then she nodded as she emptied her tea cup.

Later that day, Miura had taken them to a clearing in the woods. Sakura stood lackadaisically in front of him, donning the white kimono he had given her. It was a bit too big for her, hanging loosely on her slender figure.

"Now, I will play the part of the forgotten god, the creator of light, called Izanagi. You'll play the part of Izanami, the forgotten fallen goddess, the creator of darkness." Miura explained, wondering quietly if Izanami had deemed Sakura worthy of knowing of her presence inside the sword.

Sakura sputtered and her eyes went wide, with interest and disbelief blended with suspicion in her green eyes. That answered Miura's silent question.

"Izanagi? Izanami?" She asked, as if she had misheard it. "They were... Gods?"

"Yes, oh, of course you wouldn't know the story of the beginning." The old man wrinkled his lips into a gentle smile.

"It all began with them, you see. Izanagi and Izanami were the first gods. They were in love and all was bliss, they created the Sun and the Moon, the humans and the demons and the dragons. But when Izanami bore their child of fire, she died sorrowfully in the flames and woke up in the Underworld. While she was there, her heart turned ugly and dead - since dead things never see the light of things. Izanagi was heart broken in heaven. He refused to eat, to sleep. He couldn't stand life itself without her. So when Izanagi successfully broke into the Underworld to rescue her from darkness, he saw her for what she had become. A demon, a creature of darkness, rotten to the core of her missing soul. He escaped from her with his heart cleaved in two and fled her claws and she screeched as she chased him, like sirens calling in the middle of a storm at sea. Izanagi successfully, and luckily, sealed her into the Underworld by pushing a stone in front of the entrance, the Yomotsu Hirasaka, and when she clawed at the stone with her sharp fingernails without being able to destroy it, she screamed she would take the lives of thousands of men. Izanagi promised her to give the lives of more. And that is how life and death truly was created and time became precious, as the time Izanagi had with Izanami became but a precious memory to him."

"And which side of the story is this told from?" Sakura mumbled. Miura raised an eyebrow. "I won't dance for you."

"But-"

"I'll dance for Izanami." Sakura said and gave Miura one last unreadable glance before she turned and walked a little distance away.

Then she moved. Miura had earlier instructed her of the dancing moves and also played her a piece of the melody that was to sound at the festival with his old koto. He had brought the koto with him at the clearing.

Miura found himself instructing her further on the steps she took, and he tapped with his hand on the koto to direct her with the rhythm.

"Now, swirl." He said and she did. The yukata flowed around her, the fabric thin and yielding in the currents of the wind created by her movement.

The movements were simple. But what made the dance extraordinary was the feeling one put into each step. The expressions were just as important as the rhythmic choreography.

Miura felt his heart pound harder. What the girl didn't know was the importance of the dance. She didn't know the ritualistic nature of it and the power it would father.

Two days later, they were ready. Miura and Sakura had walked the distance to the village leisurely, taking their time, appreciating the rising sun. Miura went to talk to the festival management when they arrived in Ishigakure, leaving the girl with the seamstress he had appointed to dress her for the dance.

Miura had already dressed in the traditional black robes since he already owned a costume from earlier years. An hour later Miura found her walking gracefully through the streets of Ishigakure. It was hard not to see her. All of the civilians seemed to pass her by as if she was standing still. Her black demonic mask with horns and sharp teeth representing Izanami's rage and hate covered her face and the black coloured wig flowed behind her in the breeze, like silk in the wind. The seamstress seemed to have gone a bit overboard, what with the black thin wings which sprouted from the demon's back, made with raven feathers. It made the appearance that much more terrifying.

She looked truly fearful, as if she had become Izanami herself. Miura felt a muscle in his chest become a musical organ, as all he heard was his heartbeat thump and vibrate through his body and all other noises were forgotten.

It was time.

The dance would take place at nightfall and he would be on his way to fulfil his promise to Amaya.

* * *

_The Man with a Name, Sai_

The man crouched and hid within the shadows of the street. There were no gas lamps nearby so the only source of light was the moon, which aided his discrecy in the shadows. The ringing sound of crickets did nothing to sooth him. His heartbeat was calm, as an old habit due to years of training in Root, but his mind raced.

Sakura hadn't come to the village at the appointed time. Sai grit his teeth, allowing himself to do so since none could see him. His appearance was covered in a black haori and indistinguishable shoes and a black flak jacket. None would be able to see him.

A memory played in front of his retina as he allowed himself to stand still and not move.

When it all had started.

Hokage Tsunade-sama had gotten angry at a meeting with three hidden village leaders and had smashed the table. The Kirigakure leader had gotten an injury and had called to being offended, especially since she apparently had showed unhidden rage and insulted him. The leader of Kirigakure had an ally, another village called Kumogakure, on their side and they planned to assassinate Tsunade for her impudence and her unwillingness to not cooperate with them in an attack on Sunagakure. Sunagakure had grown too powerful, was their conclusion, plus they were afraid of a Jinchuuriki Kazekage - Gaara. Kirigakure had weak relations to Sunagakure and the village in Sand took over their trade. Kirigakure also thought their services were too cheap, making the customers of the two villages fade to the cheaper missions in Suna. Sai had acted undercover in the two villages of Kiri and Kumo and had written countless reports on their plans, later delivered to Danzō.

Kirigakure and Kumogakure were power hungry as well and had expressed deep want towards the Hyuuga eyes in Konoha, which they would be able to get if they requested it as an apology - it was all similar to the Hyuuga Affair that had taken Hyuuga Neji's father's life instead of his uncle Hiashi, the leader of the Hyuuga Clan. A Hyuuga eye for each village, was their thoughts, Sai had gathered. When after the meeting where Tsunade had smashed the table, Kirigakure's leader had acted miffed and had demanded a direct apology. At that time, as ANBU and whatnot attended the open apology meeting, Kumogakure's leader had went to the Hyuuga mansion secretly.

The Kumogakure leader found Hanabi asleep therein, but Tsunade had had her suspicions and she had followed the leader of Kumo and left a kage bunshin to attend to the apology meeting. As Tsunade saw the Kumo leader sneak away with an unconscious Hanabi slung over his shoulder, Tsunade found herself in a rage. She quickly cut his artery in his neck and he died. At that time, Hiashi and Neji found them. Hiashi said he was reminded of his brother's sacrifice and death.

"They never learn, do they. Repeating mistakes such as these..." Sai had heard Hiashi whisper in the commotion.

When Sai got back he told Danzō that Kumogakure planned to have Tsunade dead. Danzō allowed Sakura to be with him, she being his right hand. When Sai told them of this, Danzō wanted to kill the two village leaders directly. Offending Konoha like that wasn't allowed. Then he thought that if they actually sent them Tsunade's head, they'd let go and they'd avoid a war. Sakura interrupted him then.

Sai closed his eyes again and let his mind wholly wander back to that day.

**Six Days Before Sakura's Defection from the Hidden Village of Leaves**

"I do not think that is necessary. If we bow down to two petty hidden villages; what does that make us look like? It makes us look like a weak village, having abandoned the Will of Fire. No loyalty. No fighting spirit. Open for attack." Sakura breathed with hard eyes. Danzō stilled. Then she continued, her voice growing stronger, more firm.

"No. That won't be necessary. What we should do instead is to make a statement, but avoid confrontation with Kirigakure and Kumogakure. We should inform Sunagakure of the incoming invasion and offer our assistance in battle. They are the only village of which we have a stable alliance with. We have no reason to break it. Second of all, we should make a fake manoeuvre so to avoid the conflict getting to Konoha; meaning, we will fake Tsunade's death. Then you, Danzō, will be chosen Hokage. Your reign will be stricter, but required to make Konoha feared by Kumogakure and Kirigakure. There will be no political vacuum since you will be chosen directly. When the battle in Sunagakure is over, we will reinstate Tsunade."

Sakura said and then locked her green eyed with Danzō's.

"You cannot kill what is already dead." She finished.

Sai stared at her. She took another breath and clenched her fist, then loosened it as she breathed out. Danzō only looked at her, letting her continue with her elaboration of her plan inside his office at the Root quarters.

"I have a plan that will go alongside this one. Akatsuki have lately become a lot more aggressive in their actions. Their base in Rain Country is too stable and they rule an entire nation that listens to their every word and worship them like gods. We have almost no information at all regarding their organisation, their abilities, strengths, weaknesses or anything. All we know is that they're after jinchuurikis. They have become more dangerous, maybe even more so because of the disinformation. We caught a spy from Rain eight months ago, and we believe his priority in Konohagakure was to gather information; meaning that they might plan on an invasion or something of the other. The possibility exists that they will invade Konoha while we battle in Sunagakure, leaving the civilians unprotected. This concludes that we need to have an informant on the inside of Akatsuki in Rain, to know what their next moves will be. If they plan on war. And if they do, we should be the first ones to know. And the ones to prevent it. But if it all comes down to it, we fight and... we prevail. There is no other option."

Her green eyes pierced them like arrows.

"I volunteer on being the one accused of murdering Senju Tsunade, and then attempt to get into the criminal organisation Akatsuki. Me being her former apprentice as well as having showed open hatred towards her will make this plausible. If it seems to Akatsuki that I have killed my own Hokage and left my village to roam the nations, they will notice me. If I am lucky and my calculations are correct, I will get accepted into Akatsuki. Then I will contact you of their plans, their members and their goals." She finished.

"That is a very elaborate plan. I believe it might... be of interest to discuss further." Danzō said and cleared his throat. "Contact the Hokage and the Council. We'll have an emergency meeting within one hour at the ANBU headquarters." Danzō ordered Sai, and so he nodded blankly and disappeared in a puff of smoke to inform the Godaime. He left Sakura to stand alone in front of Danzō.

* * *

**Four Days Before Sakura's Defection from the Hidden Village of Leaves**

_The Powerful Alcoholic, Senju Tsunade_

Tsunade had discussed with Sakura about the plan, and she grew angry. Why did the girl have to sacrifice her reputation? Herself? Tsunade understood the importance of having it done. She understood the complicated situation they were in and Sakura's plan was beneficial in two ways; the other villages would think Tsunade was dead and Danzō's reign would be rather fearful and necessary, secondly it would be the perfect opportunity to infiltrate Akatsuki. From their gathered information on the members, they had all defected from their respective villages and had successfully killed one strong person of importance. This would make Sakura an ideal member of Akatsuki and fill the missing spot of Sasori, the one she had killed herself.

But Tsunade still had trouble accepting it. When they stood alone in her office, Tsunade let her rage show and she hit the girl as her emotions boiled to the brink, and she left her in a rampage. Tsunade knew it was at that time Sakura poured the paralyzing potion into her saké. It was necessary, since they knew Konohamaru had been sneaking around the office and had peeked at their confrontation.

But as she calmed down in the library together with Kitsune, a cup of medical herb tea served to her by Shizune in her hand, she saw that it was the only option.

She only needed to gain approval from the Council, so she set up a meeting in the afternoon. As the members gathered around the table, Tsunade filled the Elders in on their plan. A little silence followed Tsunade's last words, then Elder Ueno cleared her throat to speak.

"We need a strong shinobi for this. Is Haruno Sakura really capable of doing it? Mentally and physically." The Council woman Ueno to Tsunade's right asked, and by all means, she had the right to question it. By appearance only, Sakura didn't look much to the world. What with cotton candy hair and green eyes and amiable features she looked like an innocent princess. An agreeing sound was heard from a Council member on the far end of the table.

"I agree. Why is she suitable for this mission? Why is Haruno Sakura a dangerous ninja?" The elderly man Yawata asked the Godaime and pushed his thick glasses up his nose, his black eyes judging and piercing. Tsunade cleared her throat.

"Well, the more apparent reasons why she is a dangerous ninja is because she owns the Old Cursed sword called Izanami. And because of her contracts with the Celestial Beasts, Kings of the Elements. But that is not all. The Haruno is a dangerous ninja because she is extremely adaptable. She adapts to every situation she is in, be it a social situation or a political meeting or a life and death situation- she adapts accordingly. She is calculated that way. She is dangerous because she is strong but doesn't acknowledge it; because of this, she always strives to improve. Always trains herself until she is broken and then just gets back up. She is dangerous because she is unknown; she derives from no famous clan, has no kekkei genkai, is no apparent prodigy, has no beast inside her. This makes her even more cunning and suitable for the mission. She has medical knowledge, scholastic intelligence, unscarred determination, an exquisite physique and she excels in the art of killing. Haruno is a dangerous ninja because of her connections; she is on good terms with me, the Nara clan and the Hyuuga. She is friends with the Kyuubi container Uzumaki Naruto and the Copy Nin Hatake Kakashi. She is ANBU and has connections therein as well. Haruno is a dangerous ninja because she unconsciously adheres bloodlust. Her killing intent is massive. When she sees crimson so does her eyes. She is a dangerous ninja because she has goals set, and she will stop at nothing from accomplishing them. And lastly; her devotion and loyalty to this village is unparalleled."

The Godaime said, then she looked around the room of Council members and at Danzō on the other side of the long table. They were all ears and anticipated her conclusion.

"These are the reasons why she is dangerous. These are the reasons we want her to stand at our side and not at the enemy lines. These are the reasons why she will be suitable for this particular mission." Tsunade declared and the Council fell silent, stunned. That afternoon, there was not much else to be discussed. The Council, Danzō and the Hokage had decided. The finer details of the plan would be discussed with the Haruno present.

That night, Tsunade died on top of the Hokage mountain with a determined and cold Sakura in front of her. An ANBU operative had spotted them, and Sakura had escaped. Tsunade's body was later delivered to Shizune who pronounced her death. Hours later she had been awakened by the antidote and was offered a saké bottle by Kitsune in the library. The death-induced sleep hurt like hell, and the librarian knew of all the effects. Tsunade gratefully accepted the bottle and touched the cap with her chapped lips. Her limbs stretched and protested.

Everything began at that moment as Tsunade heard Naruto's mournful roar tremble through the village.

_The Goddess of Death, Izanami_

Izanami was attentive and tried as much as she could to see through Sakura's eyes, through the view portal. The festival was loud and colourful, the nuances harmonising and soft cheers from children was heard. The round shaped lanterns shone a red dim light and hung above Sakura's head in a zigzag pattern, casting red shadows upon the masses of civilians scuffling around underneath.

Izanami couldn't hide her excitement. She wanted so deeply to get out and just feel. She wanted to rip the sword apart, burn it, break it, shatter it, electrocute it; whatever it took to make it breathe dust. She growled lowly and quickly changed her mindscape clothing to the same Sakura wore. But in her mind, the mask was her face and the wings were her own.

The Goddess of Darkness let her mind wander. She thought of her own existence, which was only a scrape of her true self. Her true body was in the Underworld where it was kept by her underlings and creatures of dark. In a glass container they had encrusted her body, feeding it with the blood of the dead, waiting for the night of her return. Izanagi could not seal all of her into that scrap of metal Sakura carried since it would have imploded, so he cut out the most important aspect of Izanami's being and sealed it into the cursed sword. The sword was specifically constructed by Muugi, the God of Forgery, to be able to contain her omnipotent presence.

Izanami opened the vision to Sakura's eyes again and watched as she moved up to the stage. It was a beautifully decorated high stage which was situated in the middle of the street festival, with painted traditional clouds on the thin fabric that had been stretched as a background to the stage. The humans gathered expectantly and talked amongst themselves, holding dangos and plastic bags with goldfishes captured inside the water. Happiness painted the blotched night into colours of yellow and red and gold, laughter swiping a brush of joy and the civilians' hardships turned into oblivion.

Sakura went to stand behind a black veil and she saw Miura stand on the other side with his white mask and black robes. He nodded and the koto music began. The Goddess prepared herself and breathed.

Sakura moved, and so did Izanami within the mindscape.

* * *

_The God of Life, Izanagi_

The man watched from the shadows. Fires played around the crowd, letting the warm glow dance on their faces. The Priest chanted as he danced, the girl wearing the demon mask slowly walked in a circle around the Priest, getting closer with every step at the sound of a drum from the orchestra below the stage.

"The Light will ascend upon a dark world and

Until the stars bleed,

Until the end of the falling twilight,

Until we are nothing but dust and cosmic colors,

Until it rains acid upon yielding hearts,

We will not falter,

Since the God of All will save us from what we do not know.

Souls will be reborn from star dust,

And we will pray for forgiveness and sacrifice our most precious feathers of freedom,

And He will hear our whispers.

The truest follower of Him,

Will be granted a wish of no return,

And He will bring back what was lost."

The Priest sang raspily and swirled away. The Izanami demon continued her raging dance on her own, as if she was starting a fire with her fingers, her feet. The Priest slid away from the stage and saw Izanagi stand behind a dark veil at the back of the stage, wearing the body of an Uchiha. The Priest came up to him and offered the Izanagi mask. The man accepted it and switched places with the old man.

"My Lord." The Priest whispered. "It is good to see you in a true body of flesh. I'm sorry for this haphazard tribute to you, the civilians should be bowing deeper at your feet. But that time will come. Your followers are preparing for the prayer."

Izanagi didn't answer, only waited for the man's question. The Priest swallowed harshly.

"I hope you will keep your promise to me, Lord Izanagi?" The Priest asked and averted his eyes, bowing down further.

"In due time, what you want will be - the truest follower of my divine power." Izanagi said and the Priest faltered in his stance, Izanagi's words weighing down the old man with its power.

"Yes, yes. I will not keep you from the dance. She is ready." The Priest stuttered.

The old man bowed respectfully, then disappeared into the crowd. When Izanagi emerged from the veil, none noticed the change.

When he moved towards the container of Izanami, his long lost love, her dance stalled minutely. Apparently, she had been the only one who had noticed the change. Izanagi knew his dance was godly and he had captivated every human present with his dance. The ritual was almost complete. There was only one thing left to do.

"You're not Miura-san." She whispered. She slowly danced her way to him, swaying her hips and moved alongside, as if it was in the choreography. Then she gallantly took away his mask, slowly. Her breath was cut short as his hair was let down, his eyes made visible, spinning. His porcelain features glowed.

"Sasuke?" The pink haired girl asked, her green eyes widening.

"Oh, little sword bearer. This body no longer belongs to Uchiha Sasuke, he is ashamedly caged within. I am the Light. I am Izanagi." He whispered in her ear, so close his breath touched her skin.

"What? You- did you take over? How-"

"Can you not feel it? Are you that much of a weakling, human?"

"You... you're not Sasuke. It's his body, but... Your chakras..." Her breath hitched as she felt his presence overwhelm her, smooth down her bones with sizzling unhidden power, burning. He saw her eyes glitter unsteadily through the holes in her demon mask and she squirmed, her thighs rubbing unconsciously together. Interesting, Izanagi thought. She was sexually attracted to his power and killing intent. None else had ever been, they'd mostly died.

"Dance with me." In a trance, listlessly yet heated, she accepted his hand. Expectantly. She couldn't help herself as she was lost in his godly presence.

She didn't notice how the crowd settled in rows, then began to sing prayers. The devotees inside this little village indeed helped with the ritual, their voices rising. The children stood with their parents, their expressions just as serious and their hands knitted together in the prayer gesture.

Izanagi felt himself smile. Her body would work as a container for his love.

* * *

_The Goddess of Darkness, Izanami_

Izanami's stomach almost lurched when she watched her former lover inside the human Uchiha. Izanami vaguely felt how Sakura reacted and the Goddess snorted. The girl was so attracted to Izanagi she didn't know what to do with herself. Suddenly a whoosh of air told the Goddess of Death that her host had arrived inside the sword's mindscape.

"Izanami-sama! I don't- I don't know what's happening! He's doing something to me, I can't help myself... I can't resist him!" Sakura yelled, her voice angry and afraid inside the black mindscape. She had tumbled inside to Izanami's void, her face red with shame and embarrassment. "Please, help me. I can't- I can't do anything. I'm dizzy and I can't think straight..."

"I know about his pheromones. He's much like the sun he created, that way. All the same, I will help you. I have a way for you to escape his being." Izanami said curtly, the plan moving so fluently according to her will it was almost too good to be true.

"What?" Sakura asked and bit her soft cherry kissed lip, her body shivered and she gasped as another wave of power surged through her from Izanagi in the outside world.

"The Merge." Izanami said and raised an eyebrow. It was interesting to see the effect her former lover had on her.

"But... can we really do it? You said it was almost impossible." She stuttered.

"Why do you think I have been training you, girl? Did you think it was just so simple as to help you accomplish your goals? Foolish twat. I have been training you to this point so that when we Merge, you won't implode. If you have similar enough experience to mine own we will be able to Merge completely. If I hadn't trained you, your body would have broken and exploded due to my presence and I would have been forced back to the sword. Also, the nightmares on the battlefield has made your brain stronger and more compatible. The wars helped you process intense emotions without real life consequences." The demon Goddess snarled and looked down upon the pinkette from her floating form in the compact darkness of Sakura's mind.

"B-but what will happen to me when we merge? What will happen to us?" She asked and dizzily clenched the black fabric over her heart.

"We will become powerful. You'll barely notice my presence, it's more like a ride along than anything. It's also not permanent, so we can later cleave ourselves into two again. My powers will slowly transfer to your chakra reserves and you will be able to dispel Izanagi's attraction. We might even be able to escape him - I am not strong enough to take him on yet. He's dangerous and he knows I am here. We need to get away, now." She lied and Sakura nodded, her eyes swimming.

"What's it like?" The pinkette wondered, biting her lip again. Izanami felt the sudden need to roll her eyes.

"Imagine it like this; the Merging is quite like a symphony. The notes has to be correct, the music in tune with every instrument, and the goal of the piece clear. Every sound has to blend with each other into its completion. Merging is a symphony played by two, which means I cannot do it by myself. You need to approve of it and play the other part. The symphony is divided into two pieces, where I will play the first part and you the second. By the end of it, in the third and last part, two will play as one."

Izanami watched Sakura's blushing face and she looked down.

"Okay... I agree. Let's Merge." She said unsteadily and Izanami noted how irregularly the girl's heart was beating. Izanami smiled and the girl watched wide eyed the Goddess' show of emotion. Maybe Sakura regretted her decision in that second, but it didn't matter anymore.

"Merge of Symphonies." Izanami whispered.

A distinct and clear crystalline tune flowed through her body. The tune flowed slowly at first, then the tempo rose and their minds worked together at first. Izanami's presence was black and empowered itself with the help of the song of the merge, taking from Sakura, taking her limbs, taking her heart, taking her brain. Izanami's blackness covered every part of Sakura's body. Sakura's green presence, which had lately taken to have its own Colour, tried to push back, to create a balance, but was nonetheless drenched in the darkness.

Izanami had the upper hand since her chakra was almost infinite. Sakura noticed how Izanami took over and she shoved the Goddess away, realising her mistake. In the outside world Izanami watched her former lover, The God of Light, dance with her body that moved on its own. Izanagi knew they were merging so he lead Sakura's limp body on his own.

"No! What are you doing?" Sakura shouted as Izanami took hold of her body, stabilising and flexing her limbs. Inside the mindscape, Izanami's presence grew stronger and the darkness seethed into Sakura's own mind. The smoke grew thicker and reached for Sakura's mind-form. She tried to get away but the smoke surrounded her and then engulfed her inside a prison of darkness.

Sakura screamed helplessly with pain and remorse at what she had allowed Izanami to do, her scream choked by the darkness which flooded her mouth and violently went down her throat, quieting her into submission.

Izanami was drawn out into the world when she had seen to Sakura not being able to escape outside the smoke prison, and she truly opened her eyes. They were green now, and the body of Haruno Sakura was now her own.

The man in front of her danced so closely she could feel his pulse vibrate through her body.

"Hello, love. Welcome back into a dark world." He said huskily. Izanami growled in his embrace and pushed away.

"Don't." She snapped and danced a few steps away. The crowds were as silent as the dead, watching paralysed by the gods on the stage. The prayers had stopped.

"Izanami, my Izanami. It's been millennia. Will you not forgive me?" He asked and moved alongside, spreading his robes like wings in the current of the soft breeze.

"How could I? I will bear you for now. We will see what happens when I truly materialize into this world. I will make it rain blood and you will fear the sound of my wings." Izanami replied. "And how come you have been imprisoned into a sword?" She asked. It had bothered her for a while, all the time since Sakura had discovered the Uchiha bear Izanagi in his sword form. Izanagi couldn't have sealed himself into a sword, that was impossible. And stupid.

Izanagi sighed and smiled gently, his black eyes glittering in the red lights of the lanterns.

"My dear moon of the sky. I believe you will forgive me, as I have forgiven you. One day you will accept my hand again. We will rule over the puny humans and create a better world."

Izanami scoffed at his grand speech, as he didn't answer her question and danced closer to him again, as fierce as flames and as smooth as silver stream in the moonlit forest. She would find out, one way or another - the reason behind his imprisonment. Izanagi paused, then looked deeper into her green eyes.

"You found a bearer strong enough in mind to contain you and draw you. I did as well, in the Uchiha. Their minds are strong and flowing. We are lucky to have found them, the two that will contain gods." Izanagi whispered as they danced. The crowd was eerily silent as they watched two gods dance. Izanami sniffed as she swirled around him in an evasive manner which put a darling smile on the God's face.

"Mine is a little different, though. She's...resilient." Izanami muttered. Then her eyes flickered up to the man's handsome features through the holes in the mask.

"You are aware that when I find my real body again, I will kill you. I'll rip heaven apart and find your real body." Izanami said sweetly, abandoning her aggressive approach.

"My love, you will try. But you will never succeed." Izanagi smiled and leaned in to take away her mask which was sewed to the black wig, revealing Sakura's petite face. He held the black demon mask in his hand for a second and took in her facial features, so soft and creamy skin, her long wavy pink cotton candy hair and lastly her green, green eyes. Izanagi pulverised the demon mask instantly.

"Your bearer is beautiful. What was her name?" Izanagi asked, his eyes lazily gulping in Sakura's body and he grabbed her waist, firmly pulling her closer to him. Their bodies touched.

"Her name is unimportant." Izanami said haughtily. Then she bit her lip, a habit seemingly inheritable by using Sakura's body. "But her mind is strong. Sakura is not broken. I couldn't cage her properly. I did everything to break her in her dreams and with whispers, through my memories of the Old Wars and the Fires, but she didn't give in."

"What you lack, my love, is imagination. A little battlefield and you expected your bearer to break and give herself to you willingly? That is laughable." The God smiled heartily.

"And what do you have in mind that would break her?" Izanami asked with a devilish smile.

"Open a portal to Hell with your Hakai key and drag her to the Underworld, make her taste real pain. All she needs to do is say yes, which she will only do when you have broken her, and you will be revived."

"If I did that, then there would be nothing left of her." Izanami said wearily. "And my Hakai key is sealed away so I can't reach Hell- oh. But - if I use her mortal mind to resolve the sealing, I could materialise it. I could actually visit my home for a bit." Izanami realised and a grin plastered on her handsome face.

"Your home is not with the dead, love. But none the matter, we will have plenty of time to resolve that later. If you take her there, she might survive it, she might not. In the end, she will break and find no other way than to accept you."

"Well... What is interesting about the Haruno is her mind. Its ever flowing and strong currents of thoughts and structure is nothing I have seen before in a human. When I watched her mind from within my prison, it was fragmented yet it functioned and harmonised with her being."

"Then take her to Hell." The God of Light suggested and his black eyes sparkled. Izanami found it hard to understand Izanagi's intentions- it was as if he wanted her to become herself again. As if he wanted her to drown the world. She shook her head.

"This will be fun." Izanami smirked. "I'll play with her. After she breaks... I'll step out onto the soils of this little world and burn it down."

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hi guys!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If anything is confusing to you, please let me know!


	20. Ripped Eyelids

**Transition**

Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.

**Chapter 20**

Ripped Eyelids

Through the Eyes of a Goddess of Death, a Prodigy and a Cloud Watching Boy

* * *

_The Old War Veteran in the Cabin, Kurotsuchi Miura_

He couldn't move. His eyes were glued to the large stage scene. The dancing pair had removed their masks and their unnatural glow and beautiful presence shone upon the civilian crowd. Miura found himself unable to do anything but to watch in admiration.

His work as the Priest of the Forgotten Temple in the village had been fruitful. He had called for the Gods and they had come. A sense of power surged through him. He felt like he could do anything. This proved his place in the world. He had contact with the Gods. That meant he truly was the Transcriber written of the in the Holy Scripts.

He clutched the pendant around his neck. The little piece of jewellery was comfortable in his palm. He hesitated, then opened it. Inside, there were two little oval shaped pictures. Blurry, black and white and too light, since they had never afforded a better camera. Amaya smiled at him and the omnipotent feeling he had felt moments ago vanished. What had he been thinking? He was a humble man. He was a kind man. He was an unselfish man.

He was just a man, loving a dead woman.

* * *

_The Goddess of Death, Izanami_

They danced until the end of the music. When they finished, the devotees clapped their hands once.

"Praise the Lord of Light!", they sang. "We praise your return. We will follow you until the end of the world. We thank you for coming back to us. As humble servants, we will devote our lives to you. We hope your presence will shine down upon us and cleanse our sins."

The crowd sang and then bowed to the Gods and scattered like leaves in the wind. They knew they had no place to talk to the Gods and they left them alone. Izanami glanced at the God at her side, then looked away. They'd contact the Priest later.

"Let us meditate for a while. You can focus on making Sakura agree to giving herself to you. I will do the same with Sasuke. He still hasn't signed the contract." Izanagi said and flew up on a rooftop. Izanami followed and settled besides her former lover. The moon she had once created seemed so far away, like a little blob of dim light in the distance.

"Yes."

She breathed and then the world quietly fell away and she was back inside her mindscape. The swirling smoke prison containing Sakura's presence was still there, and Izanami dissolved it. There was a little sound, a _click_, like the sound of a door coming shut inside the void, but Izanami thought it might be a sound of the outside world. She still hadn't gotten used to keeping her mind and the real world apart yet.

"Let us walk." Izanami said as she fastened heavy and large chains around the girl's throat, hard enough for the girl to barely breathe. Somehow, however, the girl seemed different when Izanami dragged her out of the smoke prison. She was more fierce in her green eyes. Izanami didn't care, though, since the girl would be broken by the end of the day.

"You betrayed me. A-and that god, Izanagi, have taken over Sasuke's body- Didn't you hate him?" Sakura choked, clawing at the chain which dug deep into her skin, leaving red marks and bruises. She had understood their scheme.

"I do. And I accept him." Izanami lied as she created a portal door with the flick of her hand. It was much easier to do now with a body of her own, she'd never been able to do it before. But now the girl provided her with mental powers and she used them thoroughly. With a bit of concentrating, and borrowing a whole lot of Sakura's mortality, the seals of the Hakai Key appeared. Izanami smirked.

A few spell words in the Dead Tongue, strengthened by the Runes she drew with chakra and the seals collapsed, revealing a little silver key. Izanami took it from its hovering position and put it into the lock. She turned the key and a creak shivered through the door's frame.

The portal door opened in front of them and revealed a cosmic space with a staircase of iron stretching downwards into the far distance behind its frame. Izanami put the key inside her yukata's pouch. Sakura looked at the door which lead to the Soul Path and her eyes widened at the sight. The stars glinted and clouds of comet dust slowly withered away into blue and purple colours.

"That doesn't make any sense, _shannaro_. And what's that scary door leading to? Space?" Sakura said as Izanami started walking through the door, dragging Sakura behind her.

"Nothing ever makes sense. Walk with me." Izanami said. The girl hesitated for only one second, realising she couldn't do anything to stop it, and then they strolled down on the path of the large staircase, that stretched to their sides far enough to seem never ending. The steps were built of iron and was shaped to a smooth surface, almost slippery in its forgery. The large doors at the bottom of the staircase became visible as they walked downwards, the gates to hell a welcoming sight to Izanami.

"Where are we going?" Sakura asked. Izanami didn't answer her, but Sakura pressed. "What did you do to Miura-san?"

Izanami said nothing.

"Izanagi is manipulating you, I'm sure of it." Sakura commented quietly as she walked besides the demon goddess down the steep staircase. Izanami scowled.

"You know nothing." The fallen goddess clipped, her voice sharp and bloodied like the sword she embodied. Yet the girl didn't waver.

"But can't you see? You wanted to rip him to shreds! He left you! How can you not see it? He's gotten you back with a few simple words. You're not the Goddess of Death that craves blood anymore. You're just-"

"Careful with what you say, bearer." Izanami growled and yanked the chain around Sakura's throat hard, choking the girl. But the pinkette pressed and gasped and got out a few words that completed a sentence.

"You- know m-my name a-and it is n-not bearer. What- what happened t-to you?" She choked on her words and clawed at the chains around her neck.

"I realised that I love him and always will, and I will always hate him and try to kill him. In any way... You have no choice but to follow my orders, girl." Izanami said and dragged the girl downwards, coming nearer and nearer to the gates to hell. The girl tripped over a step and Izanami yanked her up again.

"W-what happened to our contract?" She said, her voice tight.

"The contract is binding but it doesn't say anything about what I can do to you, as long as I don't kill you."

"Izanami-sama-"

"Be quiet. Follow me." She yanked the chains again and Sakura stumbled after her, down to the gates, the end of the Soul Path stairs. They had finally reached the Gates to Hell. The large two doors that held all the evils in the world was an intricate work of solid black stone, the most powerful gates through all dimensions.

Izanami sang in the Dead Tongue and the gates opened eerily slowly and creaked in the silence. The heat and cold struck them and Sakura fell on her knees as her eyes was met with the agony of all lost souls. The screams of pain and laughter rang inside their minds.

"We're going to Hell." She choked. "You're dragging me to Hell."

Sakura shed silent tears as her body shook and she stared inside the gates of the dead.

"Yes." Izanami said and smirked a slanted grin. "Welcome to my home."

Izanami yanked the chains, Sakura stumbling after her and they passed through the Gates of the Dead.

"From now on, all that will be in your head will be dark things." Izanami said and her voice echoed within the walls and pillars of the palace they arrived inside. The entrance to the palace was plain in black stone and an altar was placed at the entrance. A demon guardian came up to them with wide eyes from behind the altar, and went down to the ground hard, bowing as far she could. Her grey wings folded and cowered around her body, her thin grey tail slipped between her bird-like legs in true submission connected to the ethics of demonic hierarchy.

Her name was Myobi and she was the head of the guardians to the palace entrance and she administered whoever came in and out of the Black Crystal Castle.

"My honored Mistress Izanami-sama." She breathed heavily, the sound of her voice was like fingernails scraping on stone. "You are back with us."

"Inform the others of my presence, Myobi. This will be a short visit since I cannot stay for long here, with this mortal girl's mind as a transmitter. I need to speak with Bishamon, summon him for me. The Grim Reaper as well." Izanami ordered the guardian demon,

"Bishamon-sama probably already knows you are here. I'll get the Grim Reaper." Myobi said and she instantly shot off into the darkness, her silhouette looking like a bat in the distance.

Seconds later, the rotten ground convulsed and a demon the size of a mountain rose, stones crumbling from his wild features, his ugly face in a grim snarl. He had horns in a twirl at the sides of his head and his hairy ears were long and pointed, sloping downwards. Absentmindedly, Izanami noticed Sakura freeze at the ugly sight of Izanami's temporary successor.

"Izanami-sama." He rasped and bowed, his dark voice rumbling through the Palace entrance, his large goat like head bobbing down. "Welcome back. We have been waiting a long time for your return."

"Bishamon." She replied and nodded in a polite greeting. "I'm here only for a short time. I need to know the current situation here, so let's wait for the Reaper to join us."

"Yes. He's currently digesting the last batch of souls in his stomach, so he will join as soon as he can."

Izanami turned to the guardian demon, and Myobi who had just arrived back shrank at the Dead Goddess' full attention.

"Grim Reaper is on his way." Myobi said quietly. Izanami nodded, then yanked Sakura's chains so she stumbled in front of the two demons. Sakura shivered when she looked up at the huge demon, and Bishamon's yellow eyes caught her in his gaze.

"Organise a welcoming party in the Dungeon for this girl, let Commander Ling treat her first to the bronze plate of dead fruits. She's a special guest so I want extra attention to her visit. Then I'll join to watch her fall into the Pit." Izanami said and noticed in her peripheral vision how Sakura visibly paled. Most souls did, when they realised they were to eat the dead fruits. They worked as proof to the soul being truly dead and rotten.

"I understand that the girl is to be disposed to the Dungeon, mistress, since it is for those who have blood on their hands. But, Izanami-sama, the Pit are only for those who have taken the lives of a thousand men! They are the most sinful souls, real mass murderers!" Myobi said uncertainly, knitting her claws together nervously.

"Oh, that she has. Haven't you now, Sakura? That last explosion you set off in that Umegaki village killed more than you knew. Refugees from the Country of Snow hid under the houses. Her count is at 1008."

Sakura's viridian eyes widened and became glazed with understanding and contempt and hate for herself. If she had been in her true body, her heart would have collapsed at the knowledge.

"Well then. Come here sinful soul, the Dungeon's cave is expecting you." Myobi said hesitantly, accepted the chain from Izanami and grabbed Sakura's feet with her claws, swung her into the air and shot off with her wings.

Bishamon grunted and watched Sakura disappear hanging from Myobi's claws with a choked cry in her throat into the black sky.

"Who is she, this female young human, who has succeeded in earning your full attention?" He growled.

"A little girl who has proved to be resistant. She must agree to my contract, where she'll give her body and mind to me, and what better way to break her than to have her here?"

"She must be strong, for a mortal." Bishamon snarled. "But she will truly break in the Pit."

"She's different." Izanami said quietly. When she turned to Bishamon, his yellow goat like eyes scrutinised her.

"No mortal can resist your whispers. None can. You should be aware, that the girl might have Kami blood or Youkai blood running through her veins-"

Silently, a shadow appeared before them, disrupting Bishamon's speculation. A tall and slender man with a black suit elegantly walked up to them. He was outrageously clean and he smelled of nothing. His face was obscured in blackness below the brim of a tall hat and he bowed to Izanami. The Goddess felt shivers crawl on her skin. Death always had that impact on her.

"Grim Reaper."

* * *

_The Foxy Boy, Uzumaki Naruto_

Stars blinked in the silent night. The Kyuubi container shivered in the coldness and huddled closer to the little fire. Jiraya sat beside him and they were comfortably quiet.

"Boy. Have you heard about Sage mode?" Jiraya broke the silence and Naruto looked up from his borrowed scroll on the Academy's history. Jiraya's expression was serious for once. Naruto scratched his chin, absentmindedly thinking about shaving the three day old stubble, and then he glanced at the old man.

"What's that? Dattebayo, another of your farting technique for constipation? I don't want to do that again, it got so messy."

* * *

_The Cloud watching Boy, Nara Shikamaru_

He had been approached by Kakashi, and Shikamaru had accepted to join the Retribution Task Force. He was put on the same cell as Neji and another Jounin kunoichi called Yuka. Yuka was a former ANBU as well, so her experience in the field was sufficient. She was quiet and had light strawberry blond hair in a short pixie cut, her eyes were a darker shade of brown and her skin was tanned. Shikamaru hadn't cared to get to know her. All he needed to know was that she was proficient in genjutsu, senbon casting and chakra sensing.

Their first mission together after a few team exercises was to follow a lead on Sakura. A lower rank Konoha nin had seen a young girl in a village with pink hair and had reported it to Danzo. Kakashi had picked up on the report and dispatched them to the village called Ishigakure.

They travelled fast. When they stopped to rest for two hours in a forest clearing, for sleep and food, Neji took the first watch. Yuka ate her protein bar quickly and then went to her mattress to sleep, without a word.

Shikamaru ate his rice, then washed the bowl and then stuffed it into his backpack. The night sang with birds and crickets. He found that he couldn't sleep. They were so close now, closer than they had been for weeks.

Neji sat with his legs crossed on a tree branch and Shikamaru jumped up to join him.

"We might be able to catch her this time." Shikamaru commented as he settled besides the prodigy.

"It's strange though, don't you think? Sakura is smarter than this. She wouldn't flaunt her hair color like that if she didn't want to be found. I feel like she must have wanted us to come to her." Neji said quietly.

"I've thought about that as well. Maybe she's ready to tell us the truth?" The Nara replied and shuffled his back against the tree.

"All I can do is hope." The Hyuuga prodigy frowned and knitted his hands together. "I can come up with a few reasons for her defection. My first theory is that the demon inside the sword succeeded in turning her into a killer, into her marionette. With her excessive count of kills, it's plausible. My second guess is that she was set up. For what reason, I don't know."

"That would make sense." The Nara said contemplatively.

"We'll just have to find out." Neji nodded. "I hope she'll be approachable this time."

* * *

_The Goddess of Darkness, Izanami_

The meeting finished smoothly with Bishamon and the Reaper. The situation was under control in the Netherworld and recently, mostly thanks to the wars and the assassins, loads of lost souls had arrived. It had kept them busy and they had recruited a few to the ranks.

Izanami spotted Sakura and Myobi from her large oval-shaped mosaic window inside her office. The girl looked like a ragged doll, hanging limply from Myobi's claws as they settled down on the rotten ground at the entrance. Sakura crumbled to the ground in a heap of ripped flesh and stained skin, but Myobi had no patience for the tortured girl.

Sakura was lead back by Myobi and they arrived inside Izanami's office, the girl yanked along with now bloodied chains. The pinkette's appearance was dirty, her hair burnt crisp at the edges and her skin had become paler in the fires and had patterns of ugly blisters. Sagging pink ripped flesh hung from her cheek. Being force fed dead things had left her mouth smeared with grey and brown gore and her eyes were blank, barely green. Her arms had been marked with the tattoos of the Dungeon which showed she had been there for a session. The tattoos had been carved with sharp stones from the cave, black obsidian ones, and they had formed an apple with blood colouring its ripe surface.

Sakura was let go of the chain around her throat and looked around the castle. Izanami glanced at the pinkette. The girl had changed now. She did not look frightened anymore, only... Ravaged, empty and at a loss of words, but all the same she was quiet. Accepting her fate, although not willingly it seemed, but all the same she stood straight. It seemed the burden of her death count had made her think she deserved what she been through in the darkness of the Dungeon.

Izanami smiled at the girl.

"You will fall into the Pit. The demons down there are first graded trainees, and the Pit is their final exam for becoming High Class demons. For each broken soul, they achieve one point. For turning a soul into a Hell worker, two points. For turning a soul into a low class demon, ten points. For breaking you, one two hundred points. So believe me, their full and complete attention will be on you. When you emerge from therein, we will head back to the mortal world and you will sign the contract where you will leave your body fully to me." Izanami pointed to the hole of the Pit in the middle of the large dome, the hole much like a wide well, but much more exquisite in its detail of sculptures surrounding it in marble. There was a platform in front of the hole, where Izanami could stand and view the pleasantness of torture.

"It is what it is." A dirty Sakura said, her throat thick with emotion, and she went to the edge of the palace and peered down into the hole in the ground on the platform. Down on the carnage of mutilated bodies moving around in the black fires, screaming and howling as they were tortured. The souls each had an encrusted cell with different methods of torture in each. They bathed in seas of blood and severed body parts floated down to the bottom of the endless abyss, the Styx river flooding through the cells.

"When I fall, I won't be the same anymore. Is this what you want from me?" She turned her head and looked back at Izanami. Searching for guilt or compassion mayhaps, but that was all but futile. Izanami was the epitome of darkness. She had none of those useless emotions. Sakura fidgeted as a scream faintly broke through the silence from the Pit. It echoed within the dark palace walls.

"I want you to break and give yourself wholly to me. When they gouge out your eyes, when they mark your body with fire and blades, when they pick out your teeth one by one, when they burn your fingernails, when they drown you in blood - you will realise you are nothing. You will become my servant and give your body to me, wholly. The Merge didn't work because you regretted it. That's why this is necessary for your loyalty."

Izanami smiled and she knew it was horrifying, when she felt her skin fall from her face in shreds, revealing parts of her skull and maggots crawled through her empty eye sockets and blood poured from her mouth and her teeth changed into triangular sharp teeth like a canine. She was, after all, a demon. It was what she was, and always would be.

"I... have no choice, I see." Sakura mumbled as her eyes widened at Izanami's changed appearance. The stench in the air was suffocating.

Izanami was in a split second behind the girl and all she needed to do was push and she would fall into Hell's Pit.

"No need." Sakura said as she looked back at Izanami's long black fingernails reaching out for her back, her fingers more like claws than anything, and the girl grit her teeth. Izanami was astonished when she watched the girl jump with a shout of '_shannaro'_. A deafening silence filled the palace halls and Izanami stood still. Then she walked to the edge of the hole and looked down. She saw the pink hair at once.

Five demon trainees gathered her into chains from her crouching position on the ground, led her into a glass cell and clipped a brace on each of her ankles and wrists, then they hung her up in the air. She struggled.

The first demon, a low class female of the Tichuan family, was to start the torturing process. It was protocol that the most prominent demon trainee was to start. Her grey skin was flecked with dark spots formed like eyes and Izanami recognised the female demon. She was the prodigy trainee Kirai, known for her eloquence in illusions and getting the souls to do whatever she wanted them to do in the illusions. She inflicted pain to them, so much they would have died many times over if they had been directed at their true soul body.

The best part of Kirai's illusions was that she allowed everyone else to see the ghost of the illusion. Izanami saw Sakura's ghost image of herself be released from her chains, her real body hanging limply from the true chains, unconscious. Sakura looked warily around her, not quite realising why they had let her go right after chaining her. Kirai smiled heartily and made a few hand seals, then she went to her glass desk and her computer. The images of it hovered in the air and Kirai pushed a button.

A man protruded from the ground and rose himself up on his hands. He sprouted like a plant and shook the gravel off his shoulders.

"Sakura-chan, darling?" The tall man said dumbly. The pinkette caught her breath.

"Dad?"

"Kill him." Kirai said mercilessly and smirked. Sakura shook her head, her eyes unbelieving.

"Are you insane? I won't kill my father!" She yelled. "Dad, are you okay?"

"If you don't, he will flay you. Your father is not the same here, you see. He will remove your flesh with his fingernails and leave only muscle tissue behind. All for your own good." Kirai said solemnly, with a slanted smirk on her thin blue lips. Izanami watched attentively.

Then man walked up to her and spread his arms, as if he wanted to embrace her, but when Sakura jumped into his arms he grabbed her throat. She choked and he pinned her down on the ground.

"Sakura-chan, baby, this skin is ugly. I'll change it for you. Red suits you better, haven't I told you? You stopped wearing the red Qipao dress I bought you. Why? It hurts father's feelings." He said heartily and started digging his fingers deep into Sakura's thigh. When he flayed her thigh in a gory mess of blood and skin, Sakura shoved him away.

"What are you doing? Dad!" She grunted as she tried to stop the blood flow and tried to gather up her skin which hung loosely from her thigh. The man got up again and walked slowly to her, looking down on his daughter with a light smile.

"I want everything that is good for you. You know that, Sakura-chan dear." He replied and bowed down to continue the flaying, his hands covered in her blood. Sakura scrambled away, dragging herself on the ground, tears streaming down her face.

"No, please, dad." She hiccuped. "It hurts!"

"Kill him, or else he'll flay you." Kirai said soothingly.

"I can't kill him!" Sakura breathed, but as the man bowed down, her reflexes got the better of her. She kicked the man at the side and his ribs shattered. He coughed red liquid and fell down flat on the gravel. He wheezed a little, then his eyes died. Sakura stood paralysed at his limp body.

"Dad?" She tried. "Dad!"

"Good work, little girl!" Kirai said as Sakura huddled her father, hugging him while trying to heal his punctured lung. But it didn't work, since Kirai didn't allow healing inside her illusion.

"You're not finished yet, little killer." The demon said and flickered her finger in another hand seal. Sakura startled as a hand gently grabbed her shoulder. The girl turned her bloodied face around and up, and her eyes widened.

"Mom!" She sobbed. Izanami saw Sakura's mother stagger behind the girl, a knife behind her back.

"Mom, I killed dad, I killed dad..." Sakura rambled as her mother embraced the girl, patting her head.

"It's alright, Sakura. I will make it right. You will suffer like you made him suffer." Her mother soothed and Sakura looked dizzily up into her mother's eyes.

"What?"

Sakura's mother nodded, then she pushed her daughter down to the ground and started slowly carving with a butcher knife on Sakura's abdomen. The screaming started again.

Blood trickled in the illusion and Sakura experienced the same pain the illusion showed her she should. She tried pushing her mother away, but the older woman refused to stop.

"Mom, stop, it hurts." She wheezed and tried to push the woman away, but it was futile. "Stop!"

The pinkette's eyes had turned bloodshot and she seemed to have gotten to the end of the line of pain tolerance, her throat sore from screaming.

"Sakura, you didn't get the highest score in the Taijutsu exam. How are you going to graduate from the Academy? Only the best will survive. You'll be crushed if you continue disappointing me like this." The woman said sternly, and shoved the knife into Sakura's stomach, then she jabbed it in again. Sakura screamed, then her eyes turned glazed, unseeing. Blood spluttered from the wound.

"Mom, mom, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, mom..." She hiccuped and made a short work of her own mother, with a quick hit at her mother's throat, stopping the older woman's oxygen flow. With the knife still in her stomach, the girl wobbled up from the ground. Sakura's mother clawed at her throat as it caved in, imploded, her eyes bulged and she toppled over in a wheeze. Sakura cried harder.

Kirai applauded sadistically and Sakura couldn't speak.

"Well done, little sinful soul! Let's see, from your childhood memories, what more do we have?" Kirai laughed and tapped her computer, with different images of Sakura's memories coming up. Kirai decided on one image and clicked on it. A blond girl materialised and looked baffled, her head turning around. Then her icy blue eyes found Sakura standing in front of her.

"Sakura-chan!" She said happily and she smiled. But her teeth were sharp, like a shark's, and her eyes showed only an appetite for something more. "You look good today. Your hair is so beautiful, like cotton candy. I'm a bit jealous, why don't you share that beauty? I just want to... bite you."

"Ino- no!" She shrieked. "Please stop this!"

"Don't you see? If you don't kill your oldest friend, she will start eating your flesh."

"Ino, don't!" The pinkette cried helplessly as Izanami watched the ghost of an illusion show a teenage blond girl smile with madness, and she bowed in to Sakura's neck and pinned her to the dead ground.

Her first bite with her sharp teeth of Sakura's flesh sent the pinkette's head back and she howled in pain. The blond ghost swallowed and continued to gnaw on Sakura's collarbone.

"You're so yummy, Sakura-chan." Ino squealed with Sakura's illusionary blood dribbling from her grinning mouth.

It ended in minutes with Sakura giving in to the pain and with a horrid tear streaked face and bites all over her chest and throat, she caught the blond ghost's throat and choked her. Ino fell down on Sakura, dead and strangled, her tongue gliding out of her mouth.

Sakura shuffled up and pushed the body of Ino away gently. She watched the three dead bodies of the people she loved on the ground and her hollow face was contorted in hurt.

"I don't want to do this… please, stop." She sobbed. But Kirai never allowed anyone to rest with her illusions going. Especially not now, when breaking Sakura's soul granted two hundred points. If she did break Sakura, Kirai would probably only have to spend another ten years in the Pit, and then she'd graduate. It was truly a motivating factor for the gore of her illusions.

"Here, let's see who you looked up to as a child..." Kirai chuckled, clicked on an image on the computer screen with her long claws and a man emerged from behind Sakura. She turned around, injured to a point where she would have died five times over, but since this was an illusion she'd live forever.

"Kakashi-sensei, no, I can't..." She trembled. The silver haired man dragged down his face-covering mask underneath his chin and a skull was revealed underneath, showing half his face being that of bones and his left eye spun with the Cursed Eye. Sakura faltered and took a step back, shivering uncontrollably. Then he charged her with lightning bolts pulsing in a ball in his hand.

"Sakura, you should just have stayed a medic. You're worthless. A maggot. Contributing to nothing, only holding us back." He whispered and thrust the lightning bolt into her chest. Blood spurted from her mouth, the stench of burning flesh spreading in the glass cell.

"Ugh." She squealed, then looked into Kakashi's eyes, watching his face as her own contorted into a grimace. The man smiled with his skull mouth, his red eye spinning crazily.

"Kakashi-sensei, I'm sorry. It seems I can't die." The girl said hollowly and shoved her chakra enhanced finger into the man's Sharingan eye. The man howled in pain and tried to step back, but he was stuck in her chest cavity with his hand. Blinded, he fumbled with another Chidori in his other hand, but Sakura wouldn't let him. A chakra scalpel shaved his throat and blood gurgled from it, he tried to breath but only blood spurted from his jugular. Sakura wrenched his hand away from her chest and she looked down on the clean hole in her body.

"My heart was burnt away..." She mumbled.

Kirai frowned at Sakura's stillness, but then she made another array of hand seals and a blurry figure appeared in front of Sakura. She looked at the figure and her eyes hardened. With a hole in her chest, with knife carvings on her body, with bite marks on her torso, with flesh sagging from her thigh, she shook her head as if she was fine.

"No. Not him. The only man you cannot make me kill, is _him_." Sakura suddenly growled. Izanami couldn't see the ghost image of the man she refused to kill since it was too blurry, and then suddenly the pinkette whispered the strongest dispel word. "The fuck, I've had _enough_! Nothing you've showed me is real, dammit! Kai!"

The illusion disappeared and the bodies of her loved ones shrivelled away into black grains of sand. Her ghost illusion of herself disappeared back into her real body chained to the cell's glass wall. With a sickening crack, she broke her ankles and wrists and slithered through the chains. She healed herself instantly.

The demons were too surprised when she ran up to them to even grab weapons. Sakura kicked Kirai so the demon spiralled into the river of blood, and she roared as her chains crumbled. The vicious pinkette then succeeded in taking hold of a whip and a small knife and she battled dozens of winged demons, snarling in the chaos of bodies and blood and pain. She shattered her glass cell with a blow and splinters of glass flew everywhere.

The demon goddess drew a breath. How? The girl had broken the illusions, the chains, her weakness. Izanami couldn't believe it as she watched Sakura, who was hurt beyond repair in her psyche, shoved a demon's head into the ground and it splattered with brains and gore.

The Goddess raised an eyebrow in surprise. Breaking the illusion and breaking the glass cell - she hadn't expected that from the girl. She had just killed off her family and friends. How could she even stand up?

Izanami wondered how long the girl would fight. She wondered when her spirit would break, because it would. The demons would catch her and they'd be as unforgiving as they could be. Izanami found herself not being able to take her eyes off the girl. She fought courageously. She was brave. When a demon was about to slice a sinful soul with a sword inside his open glass cell, oblivious of the escaped vicious pinkette, Sakura was there to take the hit instead of the pained body which had once been a human.

An uproar started when the girl's blood trickled down her face. The souls had started watching Sakura fighting the demons as their own torturers had joined the battle and they had been left alone on their torture tables. The bodies that had once been humans tortured to pieces, their spirits broken, saw the girl for what she was. A glimpse of hope.

The demons found themselves battling the sinful once-humans, raising their broken fists against them, throwing themselves over the monsters in sacrificial purposes. Sakura took the lead and yelled orders. Chaos erupted like never seen before in the pit. She cut through the chains keeping the stronger souls contained and they screamed as they were free, even for just a moment. The stronger ones roared and killed as they found whatever demons was in their way. In their wake, crumpled winged bodies quivered in the seas of blood, the black fires licking their lost limbs and stubs.

The winged demons called for more help and so hundreds of demons flapped into the pit, like a storm of bats they covered Izanami's line of vision. Izanami realised she was not even mad. What that girl had done was simply amazing.

A medium class demon flapped to the fallen Goddess' side, the gash of a whiplash trickling blood down his greyish face diagonally, his face distorted by an iron hard grimace.

"Izanami-sama!" He said and bowed down deeply. "Requesting backup from the Three Headed Wolf and the Reaper Apprentices!"

Izanami snorted.

"Are you saying you are _that_ inadequate you are not even able to handle one little pink haired girl?" Izanami asked with a voice that could shed skin from bones. The demon gulped and looked down on his bird like feet.

"She is too strong. And she sparked a rebellion amongst the lost souls." He growled lowly, flapping his wings nervously.

"Very well. Send the Wolf and the Apprentices." Izanami snarled and flicked irritably a maggot away from her shoulder. "You incapable low class demon."

"Yes, Izanami-sama. Most appreciated, Izanami-sama." The winged demon bowed gratefully and flashed away with his large grey wings, headed to the dispatch team of demons.

"This will be interesting," Izanami mumbled. "Let's see if the girl can prove to be a useful piece instead of a broken mind."

A roar erupted as ten demons flapped around and held the restraining chains connected to the collar of the Three Headed Wolf, the beast snarling and wreaking chaos as she saw it make its way into the Pit from the Styx River where it was let off its guarding duty for this special occasion. It was flinging bodies to the sides, as if they were trash dolls. The Grim Reaper's Apprentices walked in a strict line towards the pit, their hooded faces masking their hideous skulls that could pierce through and condemn a soul if looked upon. They walked silently and slipped down into the hole, one after another. They were probably categorised ability-wise in the lead, Izanami saw.

Izanami strolled to edge again and peered down at the enticing sight of carnage. The condemned souls had more guts than what should have been plausible, some even escaping the boiling lava kettles with the skin burnt off to join the fight. The girl had formed sections of the souls, as if they were soldiers, and roared orders to the stronger ones that had taken commanding positions.

The demons had no prior training to take on a human battlefield and a vicious pink haired girl, so they mindlessly slashed their way through the thousands of sinful souls that had raised their fists against their captors.

With Izanami's sharp eyes she saw the souls gathering as Sakura caught their attention, a vacuum had been created in the war of human souls and demons. Then she stood in the middle of the agonised souls, the tortured and trapped, all condemned to eternal suffering, they huddled around her like flies to the torch. The glass like bodies turned their ravaged heads towards her, their hollow eyes looking at her as if she was sun light. They were blinded by her presence, since she was not dead nor condemned, yet they couldn't stop looking at her even though she hurt their eyes.

She was burning to them, but her fire was not painful. It was giving and bright, enticing, lustful almost.

"Aren't we all broken?" She said and imbued silence upon the sinful souls. Izanami found herself listening just as intently as all else of the souls. The demons fidgeted, looking around for the back-up. A revolution of the souls had never happened in their trainee lifetimes.

"Aren't we all shattered pieces? Pieces that plays a part of a filthy world. Pieces that do not know why we shattered. What part we play." Her voice was crisp and clear. _Strong_, Izanami found herself thinking.

"It was never supposed to end like this. The pieces that never fit." Then her voice grew louder. "But I can give you a purpose. I can never make you whole again, I can never take away the pain you have endured here, but I can make the pieces come together. I can be the one to give you freedom for this one time. To fight back. If you trust me with your tortured souls, I will give you all I can."

The crying of souls chimed like unsynchronised bells, with renewed resolve, turned to the demons that were trying to catch their breath and chaos erupted yet again. More fiery than before. More... Violent.

Izanami saw a pattern in the warring battle. The sinful souls of past humans looked at Sakura as their saviour. They sacrificed themselves for her. When the Wolf came slashing through the bodies of the souls, screams and howling blended together in a cacophony of pain. The Wolf was efficient that way. The apprentices were more calculated and swung their sickles in half moon shapes, cutting off heads of souls sickeningly smooth, and some using their scythes menacingly. Killing souls only meant they were back into the Limbo, so they would be back soon and sorted through thoroughly.

Sakura made her way to the Wolf of Destruction, through the blood of demons, the Wolf saw her and its three heads rose up to howl. Wolves usually howled to the moon in battle cries, hence the Wolf howled to Izanami. For all wolves howled in truth to the goddess of night.

"Go, puppy. You may eat her. She's been a bad girl." Izanami chided down into the pit and the echoes of her voice reached the ears of demons and past-humans alike. And the three headed Wolf. The beast snarled and clipped its jaws at Sakura, who evaded it yet there was another wolf head there, its yellow eyes searing. Then in a movement as the second wolf head was about to swallow her, she thrust a knife into one of its eyes. The beast growled in pain as the blood poured out of its socket, yet that didn't hinder it. In a flash the third head's jaws were wrapped around the girl's arm and it _ripped_.

The Hell Hound growled in appreciation, spitting out the girl's arm into the river of blood surrounding them, the second head howling in pain at its lost eye.

Izanami frowned. Sakura's eyes became sharper and she saw the girl _smile_. Blood poured out of Sakura's stumped arm and swirled down her body, but then the blood started forming a pool of liquid at her side. The red form gained features and then Sakura had an arm of blood, boiling and pulsing. Claws protruded from her blood fingers. The girl looked up at the Wolf and smiled, her petal hued bangs sliding in front of her eyes. Canines became visible in her teeth. It wasn't Sakura. It looked like her, but it… wasn't.

Izanami stalled. The demons stopped fighting to watch in horror at the girl's arm. The Blood Transfiguration technique was only something a High Class Demon could do.

"Are you turning into a demon, Haruno Sakura?" Izanami whispered. The Goddess knew it was possible, some sinful soul becoming darker through the torture and gaining demon-like features, later to join the ranks of her demons. And it was impossibly hard to transform a human soul into a demon. Also, that only happened every five hundred years, and they always were in the lower ranks.

"What are you-", Izanami breathed as Sakura roared and slashed with her arm of blood at the Wolf, cutting its third head off with her claws. Sakura laughed as the Wolf's blood soaked her, raining down upon her like a heavy down pour. Madness made her laughter hitch and cut.

"I'm Kaira." Sakura nodded lovingly through the blood rain.

"You may have met me before but didn't notice. Sakura is my other half. I step forward sometimes. Outer opened my door, finally, and we switched places in the smoke prison. She's onto saving Hime." She said and looked directly up at Izanami, catching her off guard since it was a long distance up from the Pit to the Palace. Through the distance and everything, the girl looked at Izanami.

"I do everything to protect Sakura, even though she doesn't know it. I will even become a demon for her, since I love her. And since we truly are one."

Sakura blossomed and her skin shone like black crystals, her eyes turning white, as if her pupil sucked the green out of it, and she roared. She couldn't be human, Izanami thought wildly. Chakra gathered around the blood pouring from her red arm and Izanami realised the girl used blood as her Element. Mortals shouldn't be able to do that. Wings of blood convulsed at her back, boiled and the liquid stabilised as it took the form of a dragon's wings. The lower rank demons shrank away from her, the souls stilled in confused fear.

"I won't let her be tainted. I want to keep her smile!" Sakura, no, _Kaira_ shouted. "I will take all of this pain and hide it in me. She will never see this darkness. She will never know I killed a thousand men for her. She will never know I killed our father. She will never know of the dead fruits I ate. She will never know I became a demon for her."

Demon Sakura gripped a sword at her feet, a heavy and ugly war sword, and flapped her wings of blood. Pearls red like wine dripped from them as she shot off into the air, unsteadily at first, then she gained control of her new assets and flew in a heartbeat up to the hole to the Palace. Izanami backed away from the hole as she saw Sakura emerge.

"You will pay, bitch." Kaira snarled.

"I don't know what you are babbling about, Sakura, but you cannot fight a Goddess." Izanami snapped. This wasn't supposed to have happened. A split part of Sakura having taken her place? How had she not noticed?

Izanami was nowhere near her full strength. She knew she could handle the demon turned girl, but it would cost her unnecessary strength and she had to save it for her quest to get her true body back.

And a newly created demon was too powerful.

Kaira's war sword came down hard, and Izanami easily avoided it. She threw a dark power bolt towards Kaira, but the girl demob only let her blood arm take the hit. The blood swallowed the dark power ball and sprouted and convulsed at the absorbed power. Izanami decided then as she saw Kaira's furious snarl become more and more inhuman.

"Let's make a deal." Izanami rasped as she spiralled backwards when Kaira swung the sword at her, following closely.

"You're funny." Kaira snarled as her blood wings flapped. "Do you think I could ever trust you?"

"It's a binding contract. If I sing it in the Dead Tongue I cannot go back on my word."

"What are the conditions?" Kaira growled.

"I will leave Sakura's body. In exchange, you stay here." Izanami said.

"I'm going to stay in Hell?" Kaira asked, her eyes widening. Then she bit her lip and folded her wings of blood. "And you'll never bother Outer again?"

"Yes. And you will never contact her again."

"I- I will never come back to her?" Kaira breathed, her eerily white eyes turning hollow. "I see."

"Will you accept the terms?"

"Yes." Kaira gave in and the finality of the decision of becoming a true demon settled on her grim expression.

Izanami let out a breath. Then she sang.

"_I promise to leave Haruno Sakura alone. I will never whisper dark things to her. I will never touch her again. In return for my oath, her dark part will stay and serve in Hell. The binding will never fade. The Netherworld has heard my oath and it will last!"_

The grounds rumbled and the palace swayed by her powerful words. Black spikes shot off from the ground and spiked Kaira's body. She screamed a guttural sound and Izanami smiled.

"Get out of her body. Now." Kaira wheezed as blood gurgled from her mouth.

"I will. Have a happy time here, Kaira, split part of Sakura. For all dark eternity." Izanami cooed and then Kaira vanished into the ground, thrown back into the Dungeon with a screech.

Izanami felt the oath surge through her and she had no time to do anything else than follow the pull back into the real world. Her Hakai key appeared in her hand and she reluctantly opened the portal back. The pull was strong.

"Farewell, my dark world." Izanami said and looked back to the palace. Then her oath pushed her through the door and her breath was caught. Her mind swam and then she stabilised quickly. For one second, she saw through Sakura's eyes Izanagi stare at her, then she was shoved out of Sakura's body and back to the sword. She hit it hard.

She felt how Sakura's body fell limply to the rooftop, and Izanagi's eyes were full of surprise. He then proceeded to take hold of her prison at the grip and he appeared inside her sword's mindscape.

"What happened?"

"Something unfortunate, but I'll overcome it." Izanami gasped. The anger within her started to boil slowly. "Sakura have a darker aspect. They traded places and the aspect developed demonic powers. She was a threat to my true body in Hell if she was let loose. So I made a deal with her, in the Dead Tongue so it's binding, and she agreed to staying in Hell in exchange for her host's freedom of me."

"Oh." Izanagi frowned.

"I'll just find another usable body that is easily disposed of." Izanami growled. Anger burnt in her eyes.

"Do one thing for me." She asked of him. Her fury was visible to him now.

"My love, if I do, what will you give me?" Izanagi raised an eyebrow and his handsomeness struck her, but she didn't care anymore.

"My forgiveness." She replied quietly.

"That means more than this world to me. What will it be?"

"Scrape the girl's memory for me. It's what matters the most to her. Without it, she'll be nothing but a shell."

"Anything for you, my love." Izanagi whispered in his baritone voice, and he disappeared from the sword's mindscape, leaving her alone again. Izanami let her breath out, a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

And he was back just as fast.

"She's not there." He murmured, his eyes confused as he hovered down to her.

"Excuse me?"

"Her core mind is not within her body. It's gone."

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hey guys!

Long time no see. Tell me what you think of this chapter! Darker, now wasn't it? Lighter times will come though, so bear with me :D

Cheers!

Fascalia


	21. Begone

**Transition**

Sakura is perceived from the perspectives of others as she changes during the years into something else entirely. The people near her follows her transition closely and when she starts abandoning everything she held dear - she gets closer and closer to her goal.

Chapter 21

**Begone**

Through the Eyes of a Prisoner, a Demon and a Cloud Watching Boy

* * *

_The Caged Avenger, Uchiha Sasuke_

"You're one of those few people who fit in chains, Sasuke."

A voice startled him in his muddled mind, the burning chains chafing against his inflamed skin and he tiredly snapped his head up. He recognised that voice, and it was not Izanagi that came to visit and question him on the outside world again.

"Wow, it's hot in here." She commented, dramatically wiping her forehead and huffing as she did. Her petal hued hair had grown longer, falling in spiky curls down to her breasts. She was a bit taller. Her muscle mass had developed to a slender and well defined structure in her body. Her face had matured and her cheekbones were more visible than he remembered them to be. Her peach kissed lips smiled at him, but it was without warmth.

It was her.

"Sakura?" Sasuke breathed with a raspy voice. "How- how the hell did you get in here?" He sighed and furrowed his eyebrows, realising it might not be real, just a figment of his crazed state of mind. The image of pink was blurry on his retina. "Or are you just an illusion? You can't possibly be real..."

"Oh, shut it Sasuke. I'm here. It's not that impossible, now is it?" The pink haired woman said and scanned the cell, glancing at the fires that ate everything in its way, and the chains keeping Sasuke inside the cell with iron bars. The fires scorched his skin.

"Izanami lured me to Merge with her. Somehow, when she used my body she caged me. Inner changed our positions and she shoved me into her garden. I was transferred into a dimension of darkness and I wandered for a bit in a black void space without stars. But the fires of your cell led me here, I saw a flickering light in the distance of the darkness. So I wandered and wandered and ended up in front of your cell. No wonder it was a light, you're burning like a candle."

"That's not plausible, though. It shouldn't be possible." The avenger said, his eyes getting sharper. "You're not real. Izanagi is playing mind games with me."

"Don't talk about things being possible or not, Sasuke-kun." Sakura sighed. "For heaven's sake, you're trapped in your own mind by a God, from the looks of it. I'd guess Izanagi Merged with you too. Your body is moving on his command. My body is moving about as well in the outside world, but by Izanami - the goddess of death. It's so weird. I get flashes of the outside world. Now how plausible is that, really? Either way, I'm as real as it gets. Inside your mind, that is." Sakura said and waved with her finger at him, her other hand at her hip. She wore a black dress that clung to her body intimately, flowing around her bare legs in the nonexistent breeze of a wind.

"I think I kind of felt your chakra. It's sparkling blue, isn't it? I just followed the trail. And that's all I know of how I got here." Sakura chirped. "But I'm sure we'll solve this."

"Hn." Sasuke growled and stretched against his chains, his muscles sore and burnt into a reddish colour. The shirt he had worn in his mind had been burnt to shreds and he only had his beige hakamas intact. Though he didn't care for modesty at this point. The blue chakra she was talking about was his core chakra. Whenever he used the cursed eyes of his lineage, he knew his chakra signature evolved into a dark red. At least, that's what Karin had told him before she had tried to take his pants off.

"Is the Dobe here as well?" Sasuke found himself asking, not really comprehending exactly how Sakura was able to loosen her core soul from her own body only to find him in here. He couldn't understand it, so he left it at that. Maybe the Dobe had helped her somehow. Naruto always had his way of coming in between people and their goals. But now, he realised, the Kyuubi container probably could have helped instead of ruined. Sakura only looked at him through the prison bars.

"No, he's not here. You... Really don't know what happened in Konoha?"

"The same old, I'd say. Intrigues and political games. I don't care." Sasuke said quietly. Sakura only shrugged.

"Well, it is no longer of your concern anyway." Sakura muttered. "How are Seiryu and Byakko?"

Sakura's green gaze wandered to his, hurt visible in her eyes. She had probably grown attached to the two summons who later betrayed her. Sasuke scoffed. He'd break her heart again.

"They're dead. Izanami made me kill them so he could drain their chakra." He told her and watched her eyes widen.

"What?" Sakura asked, her green eyes telling more than what that one word could. Then she clenched her fist. "Oh no- They're dead?"

"Hn."

Sakura was quiet for a while, then she knit her eyebrows together and her eyes were sad.

"Genbu and Suzaku will mourn their brothers." The pinkette murmured. Then she sighed and went to the cell's bars.

Sakura inspected the cell's iron bars, searching for the lock. She didn't find anything so she sighed and slumped down on the ground, positioning herself into a meditative position with her legs. Sasuke was chained right in front of her, the iron bars keeping the two apart.

"So, how long have you been here?" Sakura asked casually and her green eyes squinted at him.

"I don't know. Time is hard to tell when you're chained in a dark cell." Sasuke clipped, his bangs falling into his eyes as he stared at her.

"Surely." Sakura nodded to herself. "Any suggestions on how to defeat the gods that rule our bodies?"

"Not any that I could have thought of while burning." The black haired shackled man bit back at her.

"Hmm. There's no known technique for pushing Gods out of one's mind." She mused.

"I know." Sasuke seethed. "But we need to seal them back into their damned sword-prisons. Seal them the fuck up. But it's futile. It's over. You should just go back."

"Wait. Maybe it's not impossible." The pinkette breathed and her mouth quirked into an insolent grin. Sasuke snorted in contempt and disbelief.

"We invent a technique." Sakura said and her eyes brimmed with brightness, burning excitement.

"And how exactly are we supposed to do that?" Sasuke asked, his tone dismissive.

Sakura pondered for a while, glancing back to the darkness she came from.

"I have a split mind, you see. The 'Sakura' that Izanami thinks she has caged in my mind is just a part of me. I call her Inner, or sometime lately Kaira."

"So you have a dissociative personality disorder, then. Why am I not surprised." Sasuke said and his eyes watched her. Sakura didn't cringe, she only huffed. Sasuke then processed what she had said - that meant none of the Gods knew she was inside his mind. It dawned upon him.

"Oh, I know it's not completely healthy. I'm a little crazy, but really, who isn't? Either way, she was created when I was little. She was the me that I wanted to be, to voice my thoughts loudly. She was the aggressive part. The one that cared little for diets and appearances, of which my younger self had only in mind because of my mother. Inner was never afraid." Sakura explained. "And in later years, she became my support. My mind would have been broken by Izanami's whispers and her contract of blood binding me to kill a thousand men if not for Inner. She-"

"A thousand men?" Sasuke interrupted her.

"Yes. I'd prefer not to delve deeper into that." Sakura's eyes turned from jaded excitement to cold diamond in one second, her voice crisp.

"How many have you killed so far?" He persisted. Maybe she was more bloodied than he had at first thought. But how could Sakura, that little Sakura, even dream of killing so many?

"It is for me to know and you to wonder about."

"Don't be difficult with me."

"I'm not, Hime. You're just asking the wrong questions." Sakura clipped and Sasuke's eye twitched. He really didn't appreciate her new nickname for him. He really didn't.

"You should rather be asking 'how are you doing Sakura? Is everything well in the village? What is Kakashi-sensei up to? Have you seen him without his mask? How is Naruto holding up? Has he died out of ramen over consumption yet? Has he died in the search for you?' Hm? No? No such questions weighing on your heart?" Sakura asked curtly.

Sasuke said nothing, then he contemplated for a bit.

"Have you seen Kakashi without his mask?" Sasuke finally asked, not really knowing why this had piqued his interest.

"He has a mole. Under his mouth, a bit to the left on his chin. And he's unfortunately freakishly handsome, that pervy sleaze." Sakura snorted. "And that's all you have to ask?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. This action seemed to get Sakura's fingers to twitch, but then she shrugged her shoulders, in a seemingly I-give-up gesture.

"So how will this split personality of yours help with the technique we are to invent?" Sasuke asked, frowning dissuasively.

"Firstly, we have the advantage of Izanami not knowing I am here. She thinks I am caged what with Kaira, my other personality, has taken my place. Same goes for Izanagi, he thinks I'm caged away. Secondly, I am here to free you. When I do that, I need your word that you will not try to kill me. It would be annoying to die in your mind, even though I don't know if I will truly die or just a part of me - but better be sure than sorry. Or you dying, for that matter. Thirdly, it seems like there is no such thing as time in this space. Cosmic time is the same for everyone, but human time differs with each person. Time flows in the same way for all human beings; every human being flows through time in a different way. But in here time is nonexistent, it's only an illusion. We have this to our advantage. Fourthly, Izanami told me that her presence as we see it is only a part of her true essence. Her body is kept in the Underworld where it's conserved and has been for millennia. This means she's not as strong as a god right now."

"Hn. I might be able to use my Curse of Hatred." Sasuke pondered. "They'll be caught in my illusions and see what they want to see, but see it as a natural development from the current situation. I will make it subtle, not like just throwing them into some sunlit field. And then we push. We need to be stronger than them."

"Sounds good." Sakura agreed. "But it won't hold for long, I think. We can use your eyes as a distraction and try to break free." She perused the cell with her squinting eyes.

"But first, I need to get you out of that cell." She said and wandered up to the cell's bars, feeling the iron hot, burning metal with her fingers. Her skin shed and it bled so her bones became apparent on her fingertips, but she still touched the glowing metal bars. She didn't back away and Sasuke cringed.

"Promise not to try to kill me."

"I will not kill you." Sasuke said solemnly. _Not now_.

"That's the most thoughtful thing you've ever told me. Oh and, perhaps... If I figure out how to make my chakra swirl in the right direction of the seal's labyrinth I'd be able to break it." Sakura was visibly concentrating hard, she started to breath harder and sweat pearled on her forehead as a green and white light shone from her melting fingertips. It seemed to be difficult, the dark maze of the seal almost trapped her inside, sucking her into the darkness of her mind. Then her eyes widened, yet they were dim as she saw only the chakra in the cell's lock.

"I see a light in the far distance within the seal!", she squealed.

"Try to concentrate all of your chakra to meet up at that point." Sasuke suggested tiresomely.

"Hime?" Sakura grinned.

"Hn?"

"Shut up." She glanced at him with a sly grin and Sasuke regretted ever responding to that silly nickname.

A powerful crackling noise was made, like a door being shattered, her chakra fused and exploded with pinpoint precision at the core of the intricate seal and then it broke. The hand written signs over the cell's door frame disappeared slowly and seeped into the metal door. Sakura fell on the mindscape's dark floor from the exhaustion. She fisted her hand and her lips formed a victorious grin as she looked up at the huge door, of which she now knew was unlocked.

She got up and walked inside, the fires reaching for her form and she didn't flinch as the fire ate her skin. Sasuke only watched from his chained position. She walked up to him, burning. Everything was burning.

"Doesn't it hurt?" Sasuke wheezed. He was burning, tired to the bone, and she seemed unfazed by the fires.

"Only if I allow it to. The fires in Hell was a lot hotter to my other aspect. I could feel her pain vaguely." Sakura smiled and her eyes flashed with the knowledge of the whole world's pain.

"Oh? What are you doing here, little female bearer?" The voice of a god broke everything and Sasuke almost screamed. Izanagi stood at the unlocked cage door, the beautiful man glancing inside curiously. As if Sakura was an escaped animal pet.

"Fuck." Sakura snapped. The God looked at them with amusement in his sizzling charcoal eyes, but he didn't move.

"Hurry!" Sasuke wheezed and Sakura ran up to him, gathered chakra in scalpels in her hands and slashed at the chains. They withered away. Sasuke had no time to think about how the girl could break chains created by a God.

"Female bearer, come back with me to your body. You don't belong here." Izanagi said and smiled, waving his hand outside of the cell. "Izanami is not very happy with you. Your other aspect misbehaved in Hell."

Sasuke heaved himself up and felt how his chakra returned to his body. Sakura put her left hand on his shoulder which had blisters and burn marks. He looked at her, then he noticed the green healing chakra. The skin knitted itself over the wounds, the pain lessened and he felt how the muscles retracted and were recreated in seconds. So easily, she had healed his ravaged body without even looking at him. All her focus was on the god who amusedly waited for her.

Sasuke shook his head, then he turned on his Sharingan. The world spun in red and he threw several high level genjutsus on Izanagi. The God blinked, then he laughed.

"You are powerless. Your cursed eyes won't work on me." Izanagi smiled gently. "Go back to your cell, boy. I want the girl."

Sasuke growled, then he activated the Curse of Hatred. Orochimaru's gift. He sprouted wings and his hair grew and his eyes turned black with the exception of his Sharingan. Sakura looked at him and then clenched her teeth.

Her hands lit up with chakra and she ran out of the cell, straight towards Izanagi. The god expected her. Sakura spiralled over the god and let her chakra scalpels be shot off from her hands. Izanagi only waved them away. Sasuke found his opportunity as Sakura distracted the God and silently ran up to Izanagi. He sliced with his claws at the back of the god, but Izanagi only tipped his pinky finger back and stopped Sasuke's demonic hand easily.

With a push, Sasuke was thrown back into the cell by the force of Izanagi's pinky finger at the same time Sakura was thrown away.

"Say you disagree with the Merge contract." Sakura yelled at him and attained a fighting position as she got up fast, holding a hand over her ribs.

"What?"

"Just do it!" Sakura snapped. Sasuke only looked at her for a second, then his eyes wandered to Izanagi.

"I... I disagree with the contract. I don't want to Merge with you. I want my body back. Go back to your sword!" Sasuke commanded and the chirping of birds sounded in the mindscape, electricity gathering in his hand. He didn't know how or why, but he knew his Chidori was real. It wasn't a figment of his imagination. He could use chakra inside his mindscape.

"No, not like that!" Sakura rasped. "More like this, the right words, like it's true..." Sakura took a deep breath and whispered her own name, but it was more than just a name. It was Sakura. Who she was. It wasn't a language he knew, but he recognised the feeling of her word as who she was.

Sasuke felt her name ring inside him.

A breeze in the wind, a flower sprouting on a sunlit field, a river coursing through a barren forest. The still glassy drop of water resting peacefully on a fallen leaf. The sour taste of bitterness and freshness of a lemon blended with the smell of wet grass. A lightning cracking open the dark sky, and the clouds parting gently in contrast to the violent strike. A glass window to the sky.

Sakura.

Even in his Curse of Hatred mode, even when he was exhausted to the bone, even when he was battling a god - he couldn't take his eyes off of her. He couldn't stop tasting the word on his tongue and he couldn't stop himself from getting high on the strange feeling.

Sakura.

_"The God of Light Izanagi, I command you to leave Uchiha Sasuke's body. He never agreed to the Merge in the True Tongue. The World has heard me and agrees to my upheaval. Leave!_" Sakura sang and Sasuke didn't understand her words, but they rang so true the walls vibrated inside the cage, the flames died out into glowing embers and the God screamed.

"How do you know the Divine Tongue? How can you make it binding? Impossible! _I refuse_!" The God screeched in pain as a light as strong as the sun shone around him, pulling at him, like little spiky hands of light.

"But at least I'll take your strongest memory with me." Izanagi said coldly as he lit up and stretched his hand towards Sakura.

"_Come, strongest memory of Sakura Haruno. I declare ownership of you." _Izanagi whispered_._

Sakura screamed as a glowing little blue ball of her memory was snatched from her being and Izanagi smiled as he took it to his chest, carefully cradling it to him.

Then the light spectres pushed at him and he was shoved away forcefully. A pillar of light shot up into the heavens and Izanagi imploded.

The two were left standing inside the cell, ruffled and blinded, and then the mindscape wobbled and they were back in the real world.

Sasuke trembled and his legs gave away. It was night and the moon glowed above them. They were on a rooftop inside a village he didn't know. And he had full control over his body and his mind was empty. He got up to stand on all fours, breathing the fresh air hungrily.

Sakura slumped down on the rooftop, her breathing becoming harder and she clutched her heart. Seemingly, she had been pushed back to her real body as well. Sasuke was shocked and he saw how little chakra she still had. It was like something had sucked out 90% of it. He had never seen anyone conscious with that small amount of chakra left in their bodies.

"What did you do?" He asked, his eyes wide and his body heavy. The God in his mind was gone. No trace was left of him. He was free. He was fucking free.

"I-I can't breathe-" Sakura wheezed. Her eyes swam and she fell down hard on the bricks of the rooftop. Sasuke didn't move.

He had two options. First, get rid of the sword and find Team Hebi. That was the most logical choice, the one option which should have been the only one. The second choice, as he found himself at the pink haired girl's side, was what he wanted to do.

She was dying. Perhaps it was a side effect to knowing her true name, and speaking in that alien language. It had drained her chakra.

His hand hovered over Sakura's solar plexus and he slowly started the process of transferring chakra into her largest container of chakra still left. The solar plexus was the distributor of chakra into the veins and tenketsu points of the body, and if done slowly, no veins would implode of the chakra transfer. He noticed he was uncharacteristically gentle in the transfer, his pure chakra pulsing from his hand's palm into the girl's body. It was a strangely intimate process.

She had saved him. And he owed it to her. Her pink eyelashes fluttered and her hand wavered, then she gently laid it on the back of his chakra transferring hand. A gesture of gratitude? Sasuke frowned.

And that was when senbon hit his arm and he jumped away, over a few rooftops. Two of the senbon had buried themselves into his ligament and stalled his arm's movements with riveting pain. Sasuke ripped them out. Two men and one woman appeared at Sakura's side, and the woman started towards him. Her flak jacket and headband flaunted her village and Sasuke growled. What did Konoha do here? Where had they been when Sakura had been taken over by the Goddess of Death? Useless teammates, Sasuke thought, not really processing the contradiction in his statement.

The female Konoha nin pursued him and flicked more senbon his way, like a rain of deadly needles, and Sasuke activated his Sharingan just in time to see one of the senbon in actuality be disguised as the woman. When he saw her body two rooftops away be replaced with the senbon, it was almost too late when she swung a katana too close to his face. He evaded it and jumped off a chimney out farther into the night and away from the village. He criss crossed his tracks in the forest and left a few shadow clones to cover his trail with ripped off parts of his yukata which carried his scent.

Sasuke decided it wasn't worth a fight. He needed to recuperate and he wouldn't fight this unknown woman over Sakura. His chakra transfer had been enough for her to live a little longer. It was enough to even it out between them.

He escaped the woman with the hitai-ate representing Konoha and left the dying girl on the rooftop.

* * *

_The Prodigy, Hyuuga Neji_

"She's alive, but barely!" Shikamaru said, his breathing becoming shallow as he dragged down the black mask which represented the RTF under his chin. He crouched besides Sakura's unconscious body and held her head up, fluently checking her pulse and her injuries by the standard medic protocol. Neji saw the pain in his eyes.

"Hurry, get her the soldier pills. She needs a full pill map load of chakra boosting. The red ones."

"Who was that man? He was fast. And he evaded Yuka's senbon." Neji asked as he tried to get out the medical kit and the pills. Sakura was there. In front of him. His eyes couldn't stop looking at her. Her beautiful cotton candy hair swirled around her face, her creamy complexion a bit sweaty and her cherry kissed mouth was a bit moist. Neji felt his heart skip a beat.

"He had the Sharingan. I saw it. But he didn't trap me with it. He was... handsome." Yuka murmured quietly as she materialised in front of them.

"It must have been Sasuke, no way Itachi was here. Damnit! What did he do to her? Drain her chakra?" Shikamaru growled, got up when Neji put a few soldier pills inside Sakura's mouth and paced irritably beside a chimney. "Lucky we got here in time."

"Such a beautiful sword... It's like it's calling me..." Yuka said blankly as she took an abandoned sword off the rooftop tales. It was too late when Neji noticed what the sword was and Yuka had already released it from its scabbard. She dreamily stared at the blade which reflected the moon and Neji saw the ominous smoke like presence inside it reach for her eyes.

"No!" He yelled but Yuka's nut brown eyes turned black, the whites sucked up by the darkness, as she gasped. Then her expression turned to stone. She warily saw Shikamaru stretch his shadow binding technique towards her but she jumped away in a flicker, too fast. Her chakra disappeared completely. Her sclerae had been completely black.

"Fuck."

Shikamaru let out a slight grunt of exasperation. Neji activated his Byakugan, but Yuka was gone. He sighed as his heart was beating furiously up in his throat and let his hand clench Sakura's white kimono.

"We can't pursue her. We need to get Sakura to a medic." Neji said sternly, his eyes flickering over Sakura's still body. "She's almost got no chakra left."

"But- Yuka has been taken over by Izanami!" Shikamaru said haughtily. "She'll just... We don't know what she'll do. Maybe she'll want revenge. How- did she break the contract with Sakura?"

"Our first priority is Sakura." Neji said and stroked Sakura's sweaty cheek. He noticed she had become colder. Her expression was twisted in pain and her rapid breathing lessened between each gasp for air.

"Fuck." Shikamaru snarled and ruffled his spiky brown hair, loose strands had been let loose of the updo. "So troublesome, I can't even... For the love of all Kami. Let's move."

Neji took hold of Sakura's limp body and carried it over the rooftops. She was so light. He found himself unconsciously wondering if she had been eating properly. The Nara followed closely, casting worried glances at the girl. Shikamaru checked their file on the village and discovered it was a civilian village, which meant no medic in the village knew how to deal with chakra exhaustion. They decided to find a secure location instead, where they could take care of her.

They found a little cabin up in the valley. It seemed abandoned and Shikamaru knocked thrice on the door and asked if anyone was home. None opened so they went inside. The cabin was far away from the village so none would disturb them.

Neji put Sakura on a bed and Shikamaru went to start a fire. Neji paced the room for a while, then settled down beside Sakura. They had fed her seven soldier pills, and that was by far enough to boost a soldier off the grids with synthetic chakra. The pain she was going to through after the adrenaline settled down was going to be hell. The price paid of eating soldier pills was high and that was why they only were used in emergency situations.

Neji shuffled through his bag and found a scroll. He opened it, made a few hand seals and out from the scroll handcuffs poofed into existence. Shikamaru glanced at them, raising an eyebrow, but not questioning Neji's decision to cuff Sakura's unconscious body. The Hyuuga clipped the cuffs around Sakura's wrists and ankles, the cuffs having sealing effects incorporated into them. They were made to capture high class criminals and to restrain any excessive movement. Shikamaru looked away.

"It's necessary." Neji mumbled.

Shikamaru found two cups and boiled some water, found a few tea leaves and brewed some for the two of them.

"I hope she'll survive." The Nara murmured as he blew the steam off the hot tea cup.

"Me too." Neji said and looked at Sakura. "She will. It's Sakura. She can survive the most freakish of things."

"Should we contact Kakashi Taichou?" Neji asked as he blew the steam off his hot tea.

"Not yet. I want to hear what Sakura has to say first." Shikamaru drawled and stretched his arms.

"I agree." Neji nodded. "But he needs to know about the sword and Yuka. I think she's going to cause some serious trouble."

"Yeah." Shikamaru sighed. "I don't think we can keep Izanami and Izanagi a secret anymore. They're out in the world somewhere and they're dangerous. Danzo should have a report on this as well. We need to caution every Konoha shinobi of the sword's destructive power."

A few hours later, Shikamaru noticed Sakura moving when he had finished counting their food supplies. Her pink feather light eyelashes fluttered open.

She woke up with a gasp, clutching her chest with the cuffs restraining her from moving any further. And then she saw them, her mouth opening wide.

"Shika! Neji!" She yelled and got hold of them both in a surprisingly strong grip, even with her limited movement. It seemed she didn't care about the cuffs. She started sobbing. Shikamaru found his face nestled in a cotton candy fluff of hair, almost suffocating. He didn't really mind though.

"I've missed you both so much! Oh, you're here, you're with me, I'm not alone, I'm not alone..." She sobbed. Then her viridian eyes widened.

"Wh-what? Where's Inner? She's gone! She's not in the mindscape garden- she's gone! How could she leave me? We're one! Izanami... She's gone too. The sword- it's gone. Her presence is gone. She- what if she have Inner? I'm- I'm alone. I'm alone!" She cried harder and pushed them both away. Shikamaru stumbled back, baffled at the girl's outburst. She looked down on her cuffed hands and breathed hard, her eyes wide.

"It's empty- my voice is echoing inside. It's cold. Inner, where are you?" Sakura's frenzied green eyes closed shut and she bit her lower lip hard. "She's not in there!"

"Sakura, you're having a mental breakdown." Neji whispered, somewhat calmly and soothingly as he tried to regain his neutral countenance. Shikamaru hovered behind Neji, uncertain on how to handle the situation. He was reminded of Sakura's breakdown after Danzo's punishment. It hadn't been pretty.

"I'm... You-", she said uncertainly. Her face was tear stricken and she clutched the fabric of the borrowed sheet. She tried to get up so she could rest her back at the wall, but she was too weak. She coughed, and Shikamaru clenched his jaw. She needed more soldier pills, but too many of them would put far too much stress on her solar plexus distribution of chakra to her tenketsu points.

"I'm a bit... Broken. Disoriented. Lost." She whispered, her distress palpable. "I'm missing a piece of myself. Izanami has abandoned me as well. I don't know what's going on. And you... You cuffed me?"

"We found you in the village of Ishigakure." Shikamaru said and went to her side. "Almost completely drained of chakra. And it's a precaution, with the cuffs. What happened? What do you mean she's gone?"

"The festival, the dance- Miura-san..." Sakura said and her green eyes blurred with tears. "They must have killed him to change places during the dance, with that man. Izanagi."

"Who's that?"

"Miura? He's someone who took care of my wounds after that man ripped my contract with Byakko and Seiryu to shreds. Miura helped me heal and train."

"Wait, Izanagi took your summons? That's impossible. The contracts are binding."

Sakura nodded, then she gulped. Her quivering hands went to her face, and she felt her cheek with her fingertips. Somehow, this action made her stop crying. She let a heavy breath blow through her nose. Like she was comforted by feeling her own skin, proving her existence, her control of her own body.

"You're not supposed to be here." She said sternly and her eyes became colder, her hand falling away from her face, the chains from the cuffs clinking in the silence of the cabin with the exception of the crackling from the fireplace. She caught the two men with accusing viridian eyes. "You've compromised my mission."

"What mission?" Shikamaru asked.

"The whole plot. You've ruined everything." Sakura snarled and angrily looked at both of them. "I thought you two were cleverer than this. Didn't you understand the political situation Konoha was in after Tsunade killed the Kirigakure leader? Huh?"

When she saw the oblivious glances Shikamaru and Neji shared, she drew a deep breath again and frowned.

"Wait..." Shikamaru whispered as it dawned on him.

"After the meeting and Tsunade's open apology to the Kirigakure village for killing their leader, they weren't happy. The new leader who emerged quickly after was a lot stricter and worked more within the shadows. They were planning on assassinating Tsunade. Reliable sources from Root gathered this intel. Kirigakure were operating together with Kumogakure, and they planned on invading Sunagakure. Tsunade needed to disappear for a while until everything had calmed down, so we faked her death and put Danzo in the position of Hokage."

"You didn't kill her." Shikamaru stated. His heart was about to cleave in two. "So the Council, you, Danzō and Tsunade-sama planned this whole thing."

"Yes. Tsunade's alive and breathing inside the Secret Library at the Hokage Tower. Probably drinking her ass off." Sakura said sourly.

"But- why did you have to do it? And why did you leave?" Neji asked, his neutral face on the brim of showing emotion.

"I'm on a mission of infiltrating the Akatsuki, you morons. And you've just about now destroyed the whole thing. They have eyes and ears everywhere. They probably already know you two captured me." Sakura snapped and took a shaking breath.

The chakra exhausted girl sighed heavily. Neji and Shikamaru glanced at each other. The Hyuuga clenched his fist. Why hadn't they been informed of this?

"I know it's not your fault. You were probably sent her to capture me on Kakashi's orders." Sakura said lowly.

"No... His order was more like, 'sure, try catching her, but don't be afraid of drawing some blood on that pretty little face of hers'." Shikamaru said and looked down on his hands.

"What?" Sakura asked, hurt visible on her expression. "So he really.. He really hates me now. It's not really that surprising though, I guess. He doesn't have the clearance to know about my mission."

"Yeah. It's kind of scary actually." The Nara commented. "But we know the truth now. I believe you, Sakura. We knew you wouldn't kill Tsunade. I admit, however, that I doubted you for a time. And I'm sorry for that."

"I believe you, too." Neji said lowly. He had the sudden urge to hug the girl and ask for her forgiveness, but he didn't. A scene played inside his mind, in the path of the Sekai forest, where Sakura was beaten mercilessly by Tenten on the forest floor. And Neji had just watched. He had just stood there and watched her head get kicked around like a ball of flesh. The Prodigy closed his eyes, something he rarely did because seeing was what he always did. Sakura saw it, but acted like she hadn't seen his discomfort and regret.

"Thank you. But- I need to get out of here. Where are we?" She asked and squinted her eyes around the room. Then her mouth opened in the form of an O.

"We're in Miura's cabin?" She asked and her chakra wavered as she tried to reach it around the house, sensing, reaching for the old man's presence.

"He's not here." Sakura collapsed back to the bed caused by the stressing action of using her chakra sensoring. Her breathing increased to heavy wheezing. Shikamaru moved his feet worriedly up to the side of the bed.

"Careful there. We just found this place. We thought none lived here. No tools of living in here is left. The remnants of the fireplace was old." Neji said and reached a hand towards Sakura, and she didn't move away from his palm as he touched her forehead. It was sweaty and hot.

"I need to do a quick medical scan. Be still." Neji said and activated his Byakugan. His eyes saw Sakura's tenketsu point glow weakly with a red light from the soldier pills, replenishing her chakra. But there was another, blue and sparkling chakra source at her solar plexus. It was powerful and foreign, and it was obviously the cause of a chakra transfer. Neji wrinkled his eyebrows as he carefully watched the pulsing light blue chakra. It did no harm, so he didn't think more about it.

"It's done. Nothing is critical anymore, but your chakra is still too thin." Neji said. "We can spare one hour or two to look for Miura. I can do it since my Byakugan can see more than Shikamaru. But you need to rest. A chakra exhaustion fever is settling inside your body's central nerve system." The Hyuuga said and didn't care about the slight shiver which went through his body when he touched her hot skin. Sakura's big green eyes watched him.

"Miura is old and have grey eyes. There's a scar on his left arm going horizontally. Shinobi of high calibre. The villagers know him as the Eremite. Please... Please tell me if he's dead." Sakura said and fell back into the pillow with green unreadable eyes settling somewhere far away. Shikamaru nodded and went to get a few more blankets.

"Where's Izanami?" Sakura asked, her voice hollow. "When I was unconscious, she wasn't there in my dreams."

"One in our team, a kunoichi called Yuka who's a former ANBU and who was recruited by Kakashi into the RTF, took Izanami. She was probably taken over and she ran away. Izanami must have broken the contract she had with you. We couldn't do anything."

"I see... Poor girl." Sakura whispered, then looked away. An uncomfortable silence settled upon them, and Neji fidgeted.

"Would you kindly uncuff me, Neji-san? The metal is cold and uncomfortable." Sakura asked and pointedly looked at her cuffed hands. Neji glanced away.

"I can't do that. Not yet. We need confirmation from Danzō-sama and the Hokage's home office, that what you're saying is true. I believe you, I do, but we have to be sure. It's protocol. Always double check."

"I see. Always double check that the suspected murderer of the Hokage really didn't kill her Hokage and that she's on an undercover mission to infiltrate the Akatsuki. All according to protocol." Sakura said sarcastically and sniffed. "But I do understand the position you are in. Following orders are what we both do. It's what we do for our village."

Then it was quiet. Neji tried to get Sakura to look at him, but her eyes were glued to the sparkling fireplace. Even though they had had the fire going for a couple of hours, it was cold in the atmosphere.

"I'm sorry, Sakura." He said quietly when Shikamaru left through the door. "I-"

"I'm sorry, too." Sakura said frostily and her eyes were so green, like a lush and flourishing forest at the end of spring. Neji couldn't look at her more than that, so he nodded and left her.

A man who could see everything, didn't see the grim expression which settled on the pink haired girl's face. And then she closed her eyes as her body blazed with the chakra exhaustion fever.

* * *

_The Quiet Woman, Takara Yuka_

She had a goddess within her mind, a Goddess who once slept within the beautiful sword she held. She ran faster and faster through the woods. Yuka, who was only but an ordinary girl from an ordinary Clan. Yuka, the quiet weird girl in the corner of every room. Yuka, the oddball virgin. Yuka, the smartass. Yuka, the bitter bitch. Yuka, the one who cheated her way into ANBU. Yuka, the show-off. Yuka, the mute.

Yuka, the container of a Goddess.

Now, who was the weak one? She laughed inside her mind. She was powerful. She ran up the side of a tree and then spiralled through the breezy night air. The wind caressed her short strawberry blond locks. She would help Izanami-sama take over the world, starting with burning Konoha to the ground. She had a place in the world. She wasn't worthless! She laughed out loud, scaring a flock of birds she passed by. They panicked and flew downwards to the dark forest.

Oh, she'd have a good laugh at her former bullies. She'd laugh at Takashi when he burned and screamed for her help. She'd watch his skin fall in crispy bits from his face, see his eyelids burn away and the eyeballs explode in blood and gore.

She stopped with her thoughts suddenly. Before, she'd never wanted that to happen. She understood why Takashi had denied her love. She understood the bullies had only been children back then, and they hated themselves more than they hated her.

Yuka frowned. When had her thoughts become this dark? She was not a hateful person, only timid and keen on reading dusty books. She liked her senbon, she loved her caring mother, she appreciated a beautiful autumn evening. She never wanted to harm anyone if she hadn't been ordered to...

_They hate you_.

A hot wind whispered in her ear, and she realised she truly wanted them all dead. They'd get what they deserve, she growled, for ever even throwing stones at the container of an almighty Goddess.

* * *

_The Goddess of Death, Izanami_

Izanami worried inside the sword's stale prison.

Her omnipotent presence was burning away the girl called Yuka's body bit by bit. Yuka hadn't noticed yet, but Izanami's power was eating her flesh from within. She couldn't even Merge with the pitiful girl since her body would implode. The girl fell so easily to her whispers of death and destruction. She was too weak. She had so easily swallowed Izanami's sob story of sleeping inside the sword, Yuka having awoken her and that some humans had sealed her inside the sword a long time ago. She also accepted that a handful of shinobi from Konoha had hurt her badly, and Yuka somehow became protective of the Goddess and swore to avenge her. Izanami snorted.

Yuka's body wasn't compatible. Izanami needed to find another one, and fast.

Izanami commanded Yuka to steer her running towards the Rashamon village to the North. Izanami knew of an old Temple there and she only hoped some devotees of the Fallen Goddess were still operative there.

"But what about Konoha?" Yuka asked worriedly. "I want to destroy it. Now."

"There is a time and place for everything, child. Wait patiently, and you will be rewarded with the blood you crave." Izanami sweetly told the dying girl.

Yuka smiled toothily, nodded and continued to run up north.

* * *

_The Man with a Borrowed Eye, Hatake Kakashi_

The team dispatched to fetch Sakura and to see if the rumour was true had not sent a mission report on the current situation. He was in the city of Snow with a team from the Retribution Task Force, following a lead on Sakura - but it had shown to be a ghost rumour. What they had found was a hooker wearing a pink wig, seemingly a popular prostitute because she acted like the rumoured Cherry. Apparently, the civilians enjoyed the rumours of Sakura. And they also dreamed of fucking her.

Kakashi stretched on the hooker's bed. She hadn't even been able to please him. The wench called Cherry laid unconscious beside him, sprawling completely naked and sweaty on the white sheets. There was an ugly scar on her stomach which she had tried to cover up with makeup, but she had sweated it away. The pink wig lay a few feet away on the dirty floor of the brothel. Her true hair colour was a dreary and boring blond. Her eyes weren't even green.

Kakashi shuffled through his pocket inside the pants which had been forcefully dragged off him. Luckily, he had sent backup to Neji's team in Ishigakure, to see that everything was going according to his plan. He found the money and threw them at the hooker. The papers whirled around and settled on her back and bottom.

* * *

_The Prodigy, Hyuuga Neji_

A few hours later Sakura and Shikamaru stood outside of the Cabin when Neji got back. They hadn't removed the handcuffs, but since Neji had inserted a small tracker device inside her stomach she had been let go of her ankle cuffs. Neji arrived just in time to see her form a few hand seals, then the nape of her neck lit up. Two large clouds appeared and her animal summons materialised in front of her.

"We thought you had forgotten about us, Sakura-sama." Genbu said and bowed. Suzaku followed his lead. "Why are you cuffed? Is there a threat?"

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." Sakura said calmly and Neji felt his heart clench as he heard her words.

Sakura then noticed Neji running up to her. She nodded at him, then turned her attention to her summons. Genbu and Suzaku watched the two male ninja with burning eyes, but they didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry for not contacting you earlier. There's been a lot going on." Sakura said and bobbed her head down.

"No trace of Miura. I've scanned a perimeter of a hundred and fifty yard radius originate from the center of Ishigakure and I haven't been able to locate him. Greetings, Suzaku, Genbu." Neji said sternly and bowed together with Shikamaru towards Sakura's summons. The heavenly beasts acknowledged the two Konoha nin with a blink and nothing more.

Sakura gave him an unreadable glance, as if she'd already known this from his expression. Miura had disappeared.

"Seiryu and Byakko are dead. Izanami is gone. She got hold of another host called Yuka." She lowly told her summons and averted her eyes. The large bird and huge tortoise looked at each other and the pinkette stilled.

"We are aware of this. We felt them die." Suzaku said and flapped his large vermillion wings. "They screamed for us."

"I'm sorry. If I had known-", the pinkette started.

"We are sorry, too. But they betrayed us, and they betrayed you as well. There was nothing we could do. Nothing you could have done." Suzaku chirped.

"Can we do anything for you, Sakura-sama?" Genbu asked, his baritone voice slightly shaking the trees nearby and leaves fell from the branches.

"No, not at the moment. I just wanted to tell you. And I wanted to know if you were alright." Sakura murmured and reached out a hand towards Suzaku. The vermillion bird closed its yellow burning eyes and let her cuffed hand touch his beak.

"Your gentleness and worry is highly appreciated, Sakura-sama. We are alright as long as you are." Suzaku sang and Sakura smiled. Neji felt suddenly out of place at Sakura's side, as if he intruded on their companionship.

"We can see your chakra is thin. Let us provide you with some of ours." Genbu commented and shuffled up to the pink haired girl.

"I'm fine, Genbu. But thank you. I think someone gave me chakra..." Sakura murmured.

"We gave you seven red soldier pills." Shikamaru said casually. "It'll start hurting in a few hours, so we have to start moving soon."

"Yes, I feel the chakra boost still." Sakura said. "But there's another chakra inside me. At the solar plexus center."

"Maybe Miura gave you some?" Shikamaru offered as an explanation.

"Perhaps. But I don't really recognize it." The pinkette said and frowned, then she turned her attention towards her two summons. "Either way, it was nice to see you, Genbu, Suzaku. I will call for you soon."

"Please do, Sakura-sama. We will wait." Genbu said and bowed and Suzaku followed his lead. Sakura smiled and then chanted a recall of the summoning. The two beasts disappeared in an another cloud of smoke, the gas spiralling up into the sky like a pillar of clouds.

"I've packed up. Are you ready to go?" Sakura asked the two male ninjas as she strapped her rucksack tighter over her shoulders.

"Yes. We'll head to the border of Fire and discuss on further actions. How are you feeling?" Neji asked and Shikamaru went inside to get their light luggage.

"The fever is held back by a medical tea I brewed. It will hold for a couple of hours at least. My chakra pools have been refilled, but the foreign chakra is hard to handle and distribute. It's too wild and does what it wants." Sakura said curtly. Neji nodded.

An uncomfortable silence settled between the pinkette and the prodigy. A breath Neji didn't know he had been holding was let out as Shikamaru came back from the cabin, grunting something about the weight of the bags being unnecessarily excessive. Sakura's shoulders seemed to relax as well.

They walked together in the woods, keeping a slow pace since Sakura couldn't strain her chakra resources yet. They were heading to an inn where they'd get a hot meal and discuss further actions. Neji glanced at Sakura.

"What happened between you and the Uchiha?" Neji asked, breaking their silence.

"Uchiha Itachi? I've not met him recently." Sakura asked, her expression confused as she avoided a fallen branch on the path.

"No, Uchiha Sasuke." Shikamaru added, rolling his eyes.

"Who?" The pinkette asked, her viridian eyes oblivious. "I thought Itachi was the only Uchiha left after the massacre."

"What do you mean who? Your former teammate, the defector, the apprentice of Orochimaru?" Neji said irritably.

"I've never heard of him. And my only teammate is Naruto. What nonsense are you talking about?" Sakura laughed.

"You are kidding, right?" Shikamaru frowned.

"You don't remember Sasuke?" The Hyuuga prodigy tilted his head. "Did you hit your head back there or something?"

"What are you guys talking about? Who's this Sasuke person?" Sakura asked, her voice audibly getting firmer and annoyed. "Should I know him?"

"Don't you remember being sucked dry of chakra?" Neji asked. "On the rooftop."

"I-" Sakura caught herself in the middle of the sentence, and looked contemplatively down on her moving feet. "I don't- I can't remember."

A breeze went through the woods and Neji felt the strange presence of a threat. He turned on his Byakugan and he saw a shape of chakra behind Sakura.

"Tenten? No!"

But it was too late. A silent thud was heard, and Sakura looked down to her chest. A large shuriken sprouted from her chest cavity and blood dribbled down her abdomen. Piercing organs and one of her lungs.

Sakura looked up to Neji and her eyes were full of surprise. She coughed wine coloured liquid and trembled.

"Ouch." She spluttered. "That hurts."

Tenten grimly ripped out the shuriken downwards from behind and Sakura's guts were spilled out. The intestines hung outside of her body and Sakura tried to gather them up and put them back inside, but her movement was limited by the hand cuffs. Blood was everywhere. Neji was frozen to his place. Shikamaru stood at his side, just as still.

It was too gory to see.

Tenten raised an eyebrow as Sakura wobbled and turned around to see who had spilled her guts out.

"The defector has been eliminated. Mission status: successful." Tenten said neutrally, her face blank.

"Tenten..." Sakura coughed and blood ran from her mouth down her throat.

"Sakura!" Shikamaru ran up to Sakura just as she fell down, her hand grasping at an intestine. It was like she was gathering a long bloody thick rope into her open stomach.

"Byakugou Seal." Sakura wheezed in Shikamaru's arms and suddenly, energy gathered around her body. Tattoos started to spread on her arms, her body, her face, from a small purple rhombus which materialised at her forehead. The purple large lines ran downwards on her arm and pulsed with chakra.

It was like she almost lit up with the energy. Green healing chakra covered her whole body and surged towards her abdomen. Her hands shoved the intestines inside her sliced open stomach, and the blood began to lessen in its gory pulsating flow.

Tenten snarled and started towards Sakura's healing body with the bloody shuriken raised in a throwing gesture, but a man appeared fast in her way.

"Don't touch her." Neji growled in front of Tenten, shielding her view of Sakura and Shikamaru.

"Have you defected as well, Neji-san? Have you also fallen to her manipulations?" Tenten asked, hurt audible in her cold voice.

"You don't know anything." Neji took an offensive stance, and activated his eyes.

"Not you, Neji. Just- not you too." Tenten pleaded, holding the shuriken between them.

"Calm down, Tenten. Let us explain." Neji growled.

"No!" Tenten yelled, her voice filled with scorn. "All you will tell me will be lies! You're under that bitch's influence. You fucking traitors!"

* * *

_The Cloud Watching Boy, Nara Shikamaru_

"I've had enough." Shikamaru growled and gently put Sakura down on the ground as he watched her wound heal slowly. "Sakura doesn't deserve this."

The young man with spiky brown hair made a few hand seals with one hand, and the other he threw three kunai towards Tenten. She avoided them by rolling away on the ground and snarling as she did, spitting 'traitors' from her red mouth with a hint of venom. Shikamaru made use of an old trick and yanked back two kunai with the thread attached to them, successfully surprising Tenten and slicing her cheek and shoulder when they whirled past her from behind.

Then, as it dawned on Tenten's expression, she was stuck in Shikamaru's shadow. The kunai left burrowed into the ground behind Tenten also had a thread attached to it, and underneath the thread Shikamaru's shadow extended and stretched. Tenten was paralysed as Shikamaru didn't move.

"You-" Tenten growled. Then, Shikamaru fell back with his head. Tenten did the same as she had to reflect what he did, since she was in his shadow. As Shikamaru fell back on the ground on his hands in a bridge like posture, Tenten's head hit a rock behind her.

The kunoichi almost passed out, and in that time Neji was fast to spring up to her and seal her tenketsu points with a round of the Gentle fist. Shikamaru breathed hard, with rage and adrenaline pumping through his veins and he walked sturdily up her body, Neji crouching over her to fasten chakra restraining chains.

Tenten's face was still and blood splattered, unconscious as it was, and he just couldn't help himself. Shikamaru stuck his tongue out. Neji flinched at the action.

A light laughter masked as a wheeze came from a pink puddle of hair and green healing chakra.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hi guys! Fast chapter, this one. Next chap will probably take some time since my University courses are skyrocketing in exams and homework and you know, fun stuff. Hope you liked this chapter either way.

Peace out!


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